


Living Our Future

by BeccaL_94



Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 02:19:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 83,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10479897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaL_94/pseuds/BeccaL_94
Summary: *Complete Story*Set 3 years after Franky is released from Wentworth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Lot's of Fridget fluff because there wasn't enough last season!  
> Originally posted on FF.net, but thought I'd re-upload here and post it all together. Let me know if it's not a great format, because most early chapters are so short, I didn't want to post every chapter separate, but now it might not be the easiest to navigate in one big chapter...  
> Hope you enjoy reading. Thanks.

Chp1

Three years, it has been three years to the day since I picked up Franky from Wentworth in my black Porsche, and I can honestly say they have been the most wonderful years of my life.  
We married on a beautiful beach, just outside of Melbourne almost one year ago, it will be our first anniversary in a weeks’ time. I can’t believe how fast time has gone in, we are in such a great place right now, I don’t think the two of us could be any happier.  
As I arrive home later that evening, I enter the house and immediately smell the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen. Franky must have gotten out of work early today, she is currently working at Legal Aid, as a paralegal but her ambition is to become a Lawyer, she has been taking night classes for the past two years. I, myself no longer work at Wentworth, I decided not long after Franky’s release that I would take a job I had been offered as Head of Psychology at Melbourne University, which both Franky and I have agreed has been the best decision. As I walk into our kitchen, I am greeted by my wife wrapping her arms around my waist from behind and planting a sweet, lingering kiss to my neck.  
“Hi baby, you’re home later than I thought you’d be” said Franky.  
“I’m sorry darling, it’s a busy time at the University right now with exams, some students need a bit of extra help”  
“That’s okay, I made your favourite tonight” I move around so I am now facing Franky.  
“It smells delicious, this is so perfect to come home to after the long day I’ve had” I tell Franky as I pull out of her embrace to fetch a bottle of red from the rack, as I pour us both a glass each, I feel Franky’s eyes on me.  
“Must have been a tough day if you’re pouring like that!” she said with a slight chuckle.  
“You have no idea” I replied taking a large gulp of my wine.  
“I’m going to change out of my work clothes, then we can sit down at the table” I say, heading towards the bedroom, wine in hand.  
“Okay Gidge dinner will be on the table when you get back” I hear Franky call after me.  
‘How did I get so lucky?’ I think to myself as I get changed. 

Chp2

I think I have loved Bridget since the that day in the carpark on my release, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her standing by her sports car, looking sexy as hell.  
The years have flown by and it is now the night of our one year wedding anniversary, I have big plans for this evening, we will go to our favourite restaurant, where I will wine and dine my love, before we go to the same beach where we married and watch the stars.  
There is another thing I want to discuss tonight with Bridget, it has been on my mind for a while now, however I really do not know what her reply will be when I bring up this topic, as it is something neither of us have ever mentioned before, I can only hope she will be on the same page as me, I guess only time will tell.  
“You look absolutely stunning tonight Gidge” I say as I reach across the table to hold my wife’s hand. We have just finished dessert at the restaurant and asked for the check.  
“Thank you baby, you look gorgeous as well” Bridget says with a soft smile.  
“Are you looking forward to the beach Gidge? I packed us a few blankets, some wine for you and just soda for myself since I’m driving” I ask Bridget, gazing into her eyes, trying to convey my love for her with just a look.  
“I am darling, it will be wonderful, you take such good care of me, I love you” Bridget leans across the table, I meet her half way and our lips touch in a soft, sweet kiss.  
“Love you too, baby”

Chp3

“Okay blankets are all set up, let’s get snuggled up under the top one and I’ll pour you a glass of your favourite” I say to Bridget as she moves to get comfy next to me.  
“This is wonderful, I’m so glad we decided to come out here tonight, and I don’t think the sky could be any clearer” Bridget says as she accepts the glass of wine I am holding out to her.  
“Thanks sweetheart” she adds.

“I know, I really don’t think we could have gotten a more perfect night to celebrate and you’re welcome my love”  
“I could stay here cuddled up next to you forever Franky, wouldn’t that be just wonderful?”  
“It sure would Gidge, shame we need to do adult things like work” I laugh lightly.  
“I know, don’t remind me, I am so glad it is Friday night, means I have you to myself the whole weekend” Bridget says with a smirk and a playful wink.  
I raise my eyebrows and lean over Bridget claiming her lips in a kiss that has a lot more heat than the one shared in the restaurant.  
“I’ll be sure to remember that for once I get you home” I mumble in between pecking more kisses to her lips. 

We sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, until my mind drifts to what I have been increasingly thinking about for a while now. I start to play with my fingers nervously as I try to think of the best way to bring up the subject, however, Bridget notices my nervous trait before I can think of anything.  
“Penny for your thoughts darling?” she says in the sweetest voice, filled with so much love. I can feel the tears start to gather in my eyes as I gaze into the blue orbs of my amazingly beautiful wife.  
“Franky? Honey you’re starting to worry me, what’s the matter?”  
“Nothing’s wrong baby, I’m just so incredibly happy, if you were to tell me a little over three years ago I’d be sat here now with you? I’d have told you that you were crazy! I have everything I’ve always wanted now thanks to you…well almost everything” I add shyly and dip my head down to stare at my lap.  
“You have done wonderfully baby, and I couldn’t be any prouder of you…but what do you mean by almost? I mean, career wise you are on track to finish your law degree soon and you can apply to be a lawyer at a great firm and no longer a paralegal, that’s within reach now Franky, you almost have everything you’ve always wanted” Bridget smiles at me, as a few tears escape my eyes and trail down my cheeks.  
“Don’t cry my love, come on talk to me, it is career related, yes?” I let out a breath as I stare at Bridget.  
“No Gidge, it’s not about that at all, it’s about us and our life together” Bridget frowned and I could see the confusion in her eyes.  
“Okay…Franky you’re starting to worry me now, have I done something wrong?” I feel terrible now looking at how scared Bridget looks, I reach for both her hands and hold them tight as I reply to her.  
“No, no, God Gidge I’m sorry I didn’t mean to worry you, it’s nothing bad, not at all. Actually I’m hoping it will be a good thing for us”. I smile at her as she seems to get even more confused by my words.  
“Okay, do you want to tell me then? Or am I supposed to guess? Bridget raises her eyebrows at me and I let out a small laugh.  
“Right, okay, so you see…the thing is, I’ve been thinking, for a while now, like a few months, that umm, well I mean it’s just an idea…ahh okay, Bridget I love you so much, I feel like we have so much love, so I was thinking, wanted to know what you would say to the idea, just an idea! That umm, we add to our family?”  
“FRANKY! Oh wow I had no idea you were thinking of that sort of thing! You mean like a baby right? Don’t tell me you were that nervous over the prospect of a puppy?!”  
I had to chuckle at the sight in front of me, my normally very well put together wife looks incredibly flustered.  
“Yes! Of course I meant a baby Gidge, God! I’m not that nervy!”  
“Umm, okay well I mean I have thought of the prospect, yes, I just honestly never thought it was something you wanted so I guess I just kind of took it off the table, so to speak. Why now though? What’s made you want a baby together now?” I smile at Bridget, moving my thumbs across her knuckles in a comforting motion.  
“Well, mostly it’s seeing so many babies and kids around, they’re literally everywhere right now! Then of course when Amelia came around last month to show us little Benjamin, my heart melted when you held him, you looked so happy and maternal with him in your arms and I remember watching you and thinking to myself ‘I wish we had one of our own’, so umm yeah, I think we’d be really great parents Gidge and I want that life for us.”  
I look up to see a steady stream of tears running down my beautiful wife’s face, I take my thumbs to wipe them away and give her a worried look, just as I was about to open my mouth, Bridget manages to choke out.  
“Happy tears Franky, happy tears” she then lunges herself towards me, her lips making contact with mine in a heated exchange of emotions, we both try to pour as much of our love for each other into the kiss as possible. We now both have tears flowing down our faces. I end the kiss to Bridget’s lips and start to kiss away all of her tears, placing kisses on her cheeks, eyelids and then finally her nose. We then pull apart and sit there, smiling brightly at one another.  
“Take me home Franky, I think we both need our rest, something tells me we’re going to be quite busy in the near future.”  
“As you wish my love”

Chp4

The next morning, I awake before Franky, head resting on her chest, feeling her heart beating steady and our legs are tangled together in the same position we fell asleep last night. I smile as I think about our conversation at the beach, and my smile only widens as I think of the way Franky had made love to me on our return home, with so much passion, like it was both the first and last time. As I move my head further into her chest, Franky begins to stir beneath me, I smile and place a kiss on the swell of her right breast.  
“Good morning, my love” I greet her with a small smile playing on my lips, she leans down to capture them in a tender kiss.  
“Hi baby, did you sleep well?” Franky asks.  
“Hmm, like a baby, best sleep I’ve had in a while”  
“That’s good Gidge, what time is it?”  
“It’s a little after 10am, we probably should think about getting up…” Franky lets out a small huff, however soon she agrees.  
“You know, I would normally protest…but after our discussion last night, I think we have some research to do, no time like the present, huh?”  
“Well, why don’t we take a quick shower, have a light breakfast then grab the laptop and snuggle on the sofa for a bit whilst we look at our options and stuff?”  
“That sounds like a perfect idea, I’m so excited to start the process, whatever way we decide to go about it.”  
“Me too Franky, me too. Now come on, move your arse into the shower, you definitely need one after last night!”  
“Cheeky Gidge! I think you’ll find I’m not the only one, now come on, I’ll race ya!” Franky shouts as she gives me a slap on the behind.

Chp5

Later than initially planned (things got a bit heated in the shower), we are finally sitting side by side on the sofa, laptop rested on my lap and Bridget’s head resting on my shoulder. I have absolutely no clue where to start with this search, I mean, it’s a completely foreign concept and I’ve read very little on the subject before, I do know that our main options would be for one of us to carry the baby or adoption – but that is literally the extent of my knowledge. I am kind of hoping Bridget will be a bit more clued up, I highly doubt she could be any less informed than me, and if that is the case, then holy shit we are doomed!  
“Right, so umm Gidge, what sort of options should we look at? I really am out of my depth here.” I add a nervous chuckle as I place my hands over the keyboard.  
“Well I guess my first preference would be for one of us to carry the baby, obviously you are younger than me so naturally speaking any doctors we visit would probably say you have a higher chance of success, what are your thoughts on that Franky?”  
“Age wise I understand, but we’ve got to think of my time at Wentworth Gidge, I was in a lot of altercations, and more often than once beaten within an inch of my life – yes I am younger genetically but my body has had to withstand a lot more than yours has babe. Oh honey, don’t cry, that was all so long ago now and I survived it.” I take Bridget’s head between my hands and give her a small peck on the lips to comfort her, I always forget just how hard it is for her to be reminded of my days inside and being attacked by other prisoners.  
“I’m sorry Franky, I don’t mean to get so emotional, it’s just all the fights and attacks, not to mention the fire right before I finally thought we could be together, seeing it on the news and rushing down to the prison, only to be told by Vera you were rushed to hospital, my heart was breaking, but also, at the same time was filled with so much love, not to mention pride when I found out you helped save little Joshua, when Bea told me you had literally shielded him with your own body to protect him, I thought for sure you were dead.” Bridget’s sobs increased as I tried to wipe her tears and whisper comforting words into her ear, after a while the sobs stopped and I held her as close to myself as possible until she had calmed.  
“Gidge, you were the one that made me fight to go on that day, if something had happened to me before I got to hold you in my arms and tell you that I loved you, I would never have forgiven myself. Please, let’s not think of all that, it’s in the past now and I want to make this a happy time in our lives, okay? Promise me, no more tears my love, please.” I look into her eyes and see almost all the signs of tears have gone apart from her slightly puffy eyes.  
“Okay darling, I promise no more tears over the past, now let’s actually put the laptop to use and search for clinics nearby that we can enquire to.”  
“Right, let’s see, umm okay, I guess I’ll just start with the obvious then” I say with a smile as I type ‘Fertility Clinics Melbourne’.  
“Wow, okay that seems like quite a few hits, don’t suppose you’ve heard of any of these before Gidge?” I ask my wife with hope in my voice.  
“Actually, third one down, ‘Oceanview Drive’ I think I have driven past there on my way to work before. Go on to their website, maybe I’ll recognise the building.” I do as my wife says and click on the webpage.  
“Oh yes Franky, I do recognise it, it’s not far from the house at all, is there contact information? I have a feeling it will be much easier going in for a consultation to hear our options rather than trying to research them ourselves.” I nod along to my wife and her very valid point.  
“Let me see, ah, there we go, there’s a phone number and an email address, phoning will probably be quicker, let me just see when they are open.” I scroll down the webpage and a grin starts to form on my face.  
“What do you say we give them a call now? They’re open on weekends Gidge” I ask her and see a smile resembling mine plastered across her face.  
“Let me get the phone” she replies.

Chp6

“Wow Franky, I must say I did not expect us to get an appointment so fast.” I am genuinely shocked, after a pleasant conversation with the receptionist, we were informed they had a slot available on Monday morning at 10am, which we very excitably agreed on.  
“I know Gidge, this is happening much faster than I thought, I figured we would have to wait weeks for a consult! Oh, we’ll both need to contact work and inform them we won’t be in Monday morning, don’t see it being any issues though. I’ll give Amelia an email now to inform her I have an appointment I can’t miss, and you can do the same with the University Principal.  
“Will do that now too Franky, I can’t wait for Monday now to get the ball rolling with it all, let’s just make sure we’re well prepared though – just in case it’s not the news we want to hear.” I want both Franky and I to be braced if we don’t get the information we desire.  
“I know baby, let’s just go in with an open mind and listen to what the doc has to say, and do whatever tests need done okay?” Franky embraces me tightly, and presses a kiss to my forehead.  
“You’re right darling, I just don’t want to set our hopes too high in case it’s bad news, but let’s just remember that whatever happens, we always have other options if neither of us can carry the baby.” I say with a small smile. Franky wraps me tighter in her arms and reaches to pull a blanket over us both. ‘Roll on Monday morning’ I think as I start to drift to sleep. 

Chp7

10am Monday morning comes around a lot faster than Bridget or I expected, we both thought we’d have a restless weekend as we waited excitedly to see the doctor, that however was not the case. We are now sitting in a small doctor’s office, that is clearly also used for examinations as there is an exam table, as well as what I presume is an ultrasound machine and a few other tools, that in my opinion look highly invasive.  
As the doctor walks into her office, Bridget clasps my hand even tighter, we are both apprehensive about the outcome of today, however I feel Bridget may be a bit more nervous than me.  
“Good morning ladies, my name is Doctor Jane Cooper, it is lovely to meet the both of you.” ‘She seems nice’ I think to myself, Doctor Cooper is a woman who looks to be in her mid-forties, with auburn hair and bright green eyes, she has a friendly look about her and for some reason that has managed to calm me ever so slightly.  
“It’s very nice to meet you Doctor Cooper, I am Franky Westfall-Doyle and this here is my wife Bridget Westfall-Doyle.” I say with a smile and extension of my hand, Bridget also shakes hands with Doctor Cooper as pleasantries are exchanged.  
“Okay, well let’s just jump straight in to why you’re here then, I understand that you want to have a baby, how very exciting – have you got an idea of how you would like to proceed, which one of you plans to carry?”  
“Well we are actually uncertain who would be the best one to carry our baby, I am older than Franky, there’s only a few months until I turn 44, however, in the past Franky’s body has suffered multiple traumas – so we were hoping tests could be carried out on both of us to determine who would have more chance of success.” Bridget says all of this much calmer than I thought she would and I am happy to see no traces of tears, much to my relief.  
“Okay, that’s not an issue, we can give you both the full works with regards to tests, we’ll check things like egg production, hormone levels, a full physical assessment, then we will do an ultrasound to check how hospitable the womb appears to be for a growing foetus. Does that sound good? We actually have a cancellation so I can fit you both in now for the tests if that would be okay and get you back in at the beginning of next week to go over the results.”  
“YES!” Bridget and I both call out at the same, making the poor doctor jump at our eagerness.  
“We mean, that would be perfect Doctor, thank you” I reply while beaming a huge smile at my wife.  
After being poked and prodded for what felt like hours, we finally were finished and left the Doctor’s office, after a long kiss goodbye, we both went our separate ways to work.

Chp8

So here we are back in the small doctor’s office – exactly one week later, it’s been a restless week and both Franky and I have been trying not to stress out and think of the impact today could have on us.  
“Gidge, I’m excited to find out our results but I’m also terrified we are gonna leave here disappointed and back to square one.”  
“I know baby I feel exactly the same, but let’s just-“ I’m about to continue as Doctor Cooper walks in and greets us with two folders in her arms.  
“Good morning ladies, I hope you are well, let’s just get straight into the results as I’m sure one week of waiting has been long enough for you both.” We both nod our heads at her, too nervous in that moment to form a reply.  
“Okay let’s see here, right we will start with you Franky, firstly your egg production levels are very good, actually slightly above average for a woman of 35 so that’s a good sign, your hormone levels all look good too. However, I know Bridget mentioned about the physical trauma you suffered and your predictions about its affects are unfortunately right, in my professional opinion I would say that your body would not support a full-term pregnancy, you may be able to conceive, however the risk of miscarriage or premature birth are in the higher spectrum of our scale.” Franky and I sit there in silence, of course we knew the injuries suffered were severe and would probably decrease our chances of Franky carrying our baby, but to actually hear the words leave Dr Coopers mouth is hard to take in. It is Franky who manages to break the silence first.  
“Wow, umm okay that’s not too surprising I guess, just a little difficult to actually hear from a professional rather than just thinking it ourselves.” I squeeze my wife’s hand tight to show her my support, Franky looks at me with a sad smile then turns to face the Doctor again.  
“So Doc, that’s my results, what about my wife?” I smile at Franky then turn and give the Doctor a small nod, letting her know I want her to proceed.  
“Well Bridget, your egg count is on the lower end of the spectrum, meaning that because of your age there are now fewer viable than there would have been if you were Franky’s age.” I take in what the Doctor is saying before asking a question.  
“What about my womb, how did that look on the ultrasound you performed?”  
“Well that was interesting, just like your all-over physical health, it is in great condition.” The Doctor says cheerily, Franky and I look at each other feeling rather deflated, it looks like neither of us will be carrying our child then.  
“Doctor Cooper, what does that mean for Bridget and I then? Are you saying we won’t be able to have a baby of our own?”  
We wait eagerly to hear what conclusions Doctor Cooper has for us.  
“Well, actually ladies, I know your results haven’t come back with what you wanted to hear, but you may be surprised to hear your test results actually complement one another.” Okay what the hell is this Doctor talking about, I feel like she’s speaking in tongues to us right now. I turn to look at Franky whose expression shows the same as mine, utter bewilderment.  
“Excuse me Dr Cooper? I don’t think Franky or I have a clue what you are talking about, no offense we just aren’t very clued-up on this sort of thing.”  
“Don’t worry Bridget many people get confused by this, I shall try to explain it in the easiest way possible, basically Franky would receive hormone injections for two weeks, that would help stimulate her egg production so it is high on our scale. We would then perform an egg retrieval on Franky and use her eggs, along with donor sperm to create embryos – with the hopes of getting at least half a dozen by the end process. Are you both with me so far?” Franky and I both nod, understanding so far what Dr Cooper is saying.  
“This is where you come in Bridget, we will monitor your cycle and when you are at your peak ovulating time, we will implant the embryos into your womb – probably 3 or 4 as that will give us a higher chance of at least one surviving. You will then come back to see us two weeks later and we will do a urine test to check your HCG levels, this is a hormone that is produced by the embryo so if present that will confirm pregnancy. I understand you will have a lot of questions, so please feel free to ask away.” I’m trying to take in all of the information, my brain feels bombarded, however right now my emotions are getting the better of me at the thought of it being possible to get pregnant. I turn to look at Franky and she has tears flowing freely down her face, then she is the first to talk.  
“So you’re saying that my wife can carry a baby that would be genetically mine? That’s great! Bridget, that’s like the best of both worlds if you think about it, we would both have a bond with the baby.” Franky gives me a megawatt smile, dimples and all and I can only return it, showing my excitement at the prospect too.  
“That is 100% what I’m saying Franky, hence why I said the results are complimentary to each other, so to speak. Now the next step in the process would be for Franky to start on the hormones, I’m only going to prescribe two weeks’ worth as your egg count was already really good, now it’s just up to you both when you want to start the process to becoming parents, I just wouldn’t leave it too long.”  
“You hear that Gidge, we can start right away if we want, what do you say, fancy helping stick a needle in me every day for the next two weeks?” Franky says with a chuckle, doing her best to lighten the mood after the onslaught of heavy information.  
“I would be honoured to help you my love.”

Chp9

It has now been two weeks since the doctor’s appointment where we were given the results and it has been one week since I started my daily hormone injections, Bridget has been the most amazing wife, she is so attentive and she’s the one that’s given me the injections, I was never a big user of any drugs really but the thought of injecting myself brings back memories I would rather forget. I have also been overly emotional, crying over something stupid on TV or when I have a minor disagreement with Bridget, which is totally out of character for me. Another thing I have noticed is my body feels overly sensitive – my boobs have been sore the past few days but apparently that’s to be expected – this does kind of make me glad my part is only two weeks long, poor Bridget will have nine months of this if all goes well. I’m currently laying on the sofa, waiting for Bridget to get home from work so she can give me my next injection, this one will take us to the halfway point and I can’t wait for the retrieval to take place a week on Tuesday. Tonight the plan is to sit down and pick out our sperm donor, we’re getting a ‘fresh sample’ not frozen as apparently this will increase our chances of conceiving.  
“Franky, where are you baby?” I hear Bridget call out from the hall and reply saying I’m on the sofa, I can hear her going in the direction of our bedroom, no doubt to retrieve the hormone injection from our ensuite. Sure enough, a few minutes later she is back, changed into comfy clothes and holding the dreaded needle.  
“Hey Gidge, how was work?”  
“It was okay darling, I’m happy to be home though, you ready for your injection?”  
“As ready as I ever am, let’s just get it over with please, oh then we can pick our baby daddy.” I let out a chuckle and wink at Bridget.  
“Please never, ever say ‘baby daddy’ again, that sounds so sleazy Franky.” Bridget admonishes with a playful slap to my arm.  
“Ow, ow sorry honey, I’m sorry” I say with a pout.

Thirty minutes later, the injection long forgotten, we are sitting going through the database of profiles the clinic has sent us, there are a lot of different factors to consider, however the agreed most important for myself and Bridget is health. We want to ensure there are no hereditary diseases from the donor’s side, as far as I am aware there are none from mine. The next would be getting someone with the same colouring as Bridget, to try and make our child as much of a blend as the two of us as possible.  
“Okay Franky what about him? Blue eyes, dark blonde hair, with your colouring that could blend quite well, also no known diseases within the family, 20/20 vision, oh and he’s a research scientist.”  
“Hm, he looks good actually, I mean he fits the profile we had talked about. This is probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever done Gidge, I mean we’re talking about our child and we need to pick some random guy for his sperm. Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if we could do this the traditional way?”  
“Ha, well yes it would be but unfortunately we don’t have the right equipment for that Franky. Seriously though, what do you think of this guy? Early 30’s as well so age is on his side.” I smile at Bridget; I must admit this guy does seem perfect.  
“I’ll be honest with you Gidge, I think this dude and I would make a really cute baby.” I wink at her.  
“I think so too darling, so is this him? Are we going to use this donor for our baby?” I take a deep breath then pull Bridget into a massive hug.  
“Yes baby, that’s the one.” I whisper in her ear. 

Chp10

So here we are, today is Tuesday 9th February 2016 and I am sat beside Franky, whom is currently laying on the exam table, feet in the stirrups having her eggs collected to be fertilised later today by Dr Cooper, using our selected donor. Franky looks very uncomfortable as the retrieval process is taking place, I just keep whispering in her ear telling her she is doing great and that I love her.  
“Well ladies that’s us done here, I’m very happy with how this went, I think it was the right choice putting you on the hormones Franky, today we managed to retrieve 22 eggs. This is above average so you should be very happy with that news.” I look at Franky in amazement, we did a bit of research and averages seemed to be around 14 or 15 eggs, we can only hope that we get a good percentage fertilised and that they survive to get transferred into myself.  
“Wow Gidge, that is a really good amount! We have a good chance now for the fertilisation procedure.”  
“Yes we do darling, I’m so proud of you, you did so, so well.” I say giving Franky a lingering kiss on the lips.  
“Okay Bridget, if you and Franky want to follow me, I’ll take you to another room to see when you will most likely be ready for implantation, the fertilisation process will take us roughly five days, then we will see how many have been successful and ‘hatched’ as we call it. We will then put these embryos into an incubator for another five days and carry out genetic testing to make sure they are healthy. If everything goes well and Bridget is ovulating, we will do the procedure between ten and fourteen days from today.”  
“Holy shit! Gidge in two weeks’ time you could be pregnant! Oh my God! This is crazy, I can’t believe how fast this is all happening!” I laugh at my wife’s outburst but must admit I feel the exact same as she does.  
“I know baby I can’t believe it either! Let’s just hope the next step goes well and we’ll have a high amount of embryos we can put in.” Franky smiles at me, as we wait for Dr Cooper to continue.  
“Bridget, when was your last period?” I take a second to retrieve a notebook from my bag, I made sure to write down the day it started and ended.  
“Let me see, it started on 25th January and ended 30th January. I’ve been like clockwork since my early twenties so I predict my next one will start between 22nd and 24th February.”  
“Perfect, well as today is February 9th, I want to schedule the embryo transfer for Saturday 20th February, that is 11 days from now, it will give us time to genetically test the surviving embryos, however given it will be slightly less than two weeks into fertilisation I will probably recommend you come in a little later than exactly two weeks to get tested for a pregnancy, but I shall give you that information on the day of the transfer. Do either of you have any more questions?”  
We both let all the information be absorbed and right now I can’t think of much to ask Dr Cooper.  
“Oh Dr Cooper, will Franky experience any side effects from today’s procedure?”  
“Ah, yes, Franky your ovaries may be enlarged still after the invasiveness of the procedure we carried out so it is advised you take it easy, no vigorous activity. You may also get a small amount of discharge, cramping, bloating and I believe your breasts were already tender? Well that is likely to last for a few more days.”  
“Sounds fun Doc!” Frankly jokes.  
“Well you are both done here for today, I will contact you in six days to inform you how many embryos were created.”  
“Okay thank you so much Dr Cooper, see you on the 20th.” Franky said cheerily as we exchanged goodbyes and I took Franky home to rest. 

Chp11

“Oh my God Gidge, I’ve never in my life had cramps like this before, did the Doc say I could die from this? I honestly feel so shit right now.” I cry out as Bridget is pacing the bedroom unsure of what to do to help me.  
“Baby, look at me, sweetheart you’ve already had the maximum amount of pain meds, I don’t know what else to do.” Bridget practically cries at me and It’s making me feel even crappier that I’m making her worry so much.  
“Honey, will you come lay down and snuggle with me for a bit? Maybe that’ll make me feel better.” I ask through clenched teeth trying not to worry her even more than I already have.  
“I can do that; would you like me to fetch you a hot water bottle first, that might help with the cramps a bit.” ‘Could my wife be any more perfect’ I think quietly.  
“That would be so appreciated right now Gidge, thanks.”  
“No problem baby, just give me five minutes, I’ll be right back.”  
True to her word, five minutes later Bridget re-appears hot water bottle in hand.  
“Franky, what do you think will be the comfiest position for you, and don’t worry about me sweetie, I’m fine with whatever you need right now.”  
“I kind of just want curl up on my side Gidge, but not sure how I’ll use the hot water bottle that way.” I say with a frown, but of course my amazing wife has a solution.  
“Darling, just get into whatever position is comfiest on your side, I’ll slip in behind you and be the ‘big spoon’ and hold the hot water bottle against you when I wrap my arm over your waist.” ‘Perfect, perfect, perfect’ I keep thinking over and over.  
With that, I get curled up on my side, practically in the foetal position and I feel Bridget push up against my back with her front, she then carefully brings her right arm which is carrying the hot water bottle over my waist and holds it flush against my abdomen. Within a few minutes the heat starts to work – probably also helps I have taken the maximum dosage of pain meds humanly possible.  
“That feels so good baby, thank you for being the most wonderful wife, I love you.”  
“I love you too, now try and get some sleep Franky, I’m sure you’ll feel much better when you wake up.”

Chp12

So today is the day Franky and I are expecting the call from Dr Cooper, informing us how successful the fertilisation of Franky’s 22 eggs has been, to say we are nervous would be an understatement. I know that Franky really doesn’t want to go through another egg retrieval, especially with the side effects she experienced during and after, so we are hoping at least half will now be embryos, meaning we can insert so many this time around, and hopefully still have some left over ones for another two attempts if I don’t get pregnant.  
It is now a little after 4pm, Franky and I finished work at 2pm today, after instructing the doctors’ office not to call before 3pm, so we would both be home together to receive the news.  
“Gidge, that’s the phone, get your butt in the Livingroom so I can put it on speaker.” I hear Franky yell as I’m grabbing a jumper from the closet. I run in to the Livingroom just as Franky answers.  
“Westfall-Doyle residence, Francesca speaking.” Okay…since when has she ever answered the phone like that?! I raise my eyebrows in a questioning manner and she just smirks.  
“Good evening Franky, it’s Dr Cooper here phoning about your results, is Bridget there with you?”  
“Hello Dr Cooper, it’s Bridget, Franky has put the phone on speaker.”  
“That’s great, okay well then ladies let me get straight to the results, as you know we got 22 eggs from yourself Franky and I am very pleased to inform you that 17 of them were successfully fertilised and are currently in the incubator, where we will carry out the genetic testing I informed you of in two days’ time, that will be the 17th February and we still look all set to implant on Saturday 20th.”  
Franky and I both zoned out as soon as we heard the number 17, that must be a mistake, that is definitely above the averages we had researched.  
“Umm, Dr Cooper did you just say 17? We didn’t even think we’d get half of the 22.” I say frantically, not believing what I am being told.  
“Yes Bridget, you were not mistaken, 17 of them! Like I said genetic testing could reduce the number, but I must say I have every confidence that it will not be by many if that is the case.”  
“Wow! Thank you so much Dr Cooper, this means so much to Bridget and I, we couldn’t be happier with that result!” Franky shouts into the phone, finally seeming to come out of the trance she has been in.  
“You ladies are more than welcome; I am so delighted the results are this promising for you – well I will be in contact with the genetic screening results in two days, like I said I have a very good feeling about that, I will let you both enjoy your night – goodbye.” The phone call ends and Franky and I are on our feet, embracing each other in a tight hug.  
“This calls for a celebration!” Franky exclaims as she pulls me over in the direction of the kitchen, we only have one bottle of wine in the whole house - something that is highly unusual for us, but we haven’t had a drop of alcohol since our anniversary, we decide that tonight we will have one glass each then get rid of the rest. I hope more than anything that this will be my last taste of alcohol for more than nine months.  
We end up dancing around the house to some old 80’s punk rock that Franky has decided she now likes, it is such a laugh and we are having a great time in each other’s arms, we slow down and are now swaying slowly side to side, just staring into the other’s eyes.  
“I love you so much Franky, God the Doc wasn’t kidding when she said your eggs were in great shape!” We share a light chuckle before Franky moves us around so she is now stood behind me. She brings her hands lower until they are gently cradling my lower abdomen.  
“I really hope, more than anything in the world that by this time on Saturday our baby will be starting to grow in here.” She whispers in my ear as we continue to sway to the music.  
“Me too Franky, me too.” I reply as I lean my head back to rest on her shoulder and feel tears prick at my eyes as I am reminded of why I love this woman so much. 

Chp13

Today could be the day our lives change forever, currently Bridget is changing into a hospital gown while we await Dr Cooper and our embryos to join us in the room. We got the results of the genetic testing back and only one did not look 100% as it should so we now have 16 healthy fertilised embryos. Amazingly, the test also revealed the genders of each one, so we actually know there are 9 boys and 7 girls. Dr Cooper gave us the chance to decide if we wanted to go with only one gender so we can decide on the sex of the baby, however Bridget and I do not feel comfortable choosing the fate of the embryos so we have given Dr Cooper the go ahead to transfer three random ones – we have decided that is enough for the first try and we can see what the outcome is.  
“Franky, can you tie this for me please?” Bridget asks me from the other side of the room. I stand up from my chair to go and perform my wifely duty.  
“You look absolutely gorgeous today, Gidget, you are so gonna be one hot mamma.”  
“Oh Franky! I’m definitely not going to be alone in that department. Let’s not jinx today though okay?”  
“Okay, okay sorry I know I shouldn’t but I’m just so excited!”  
“You and me both Franky.” Bridget says then brings her lips to mine in a tender kiss.  
Dr Cooper enters with a nurse pushing some sort of enclosure, ‘oh that must be where they’re keeping the embryos until they need them’ I think to myself.  
“Okay Bridget, if you could position yourself on the table, feet in the stirrups for me, we shall begin the process.”  
I look to Bridget and we both smile, well this is it, Dr Cooper has a syringe that she is using to implant the embryos one at a time. There’s an ultrasound machine showing us inside Bridget’s womb – oh wow I can see the syringe on the screen, it’s just deposited the first tiny embryo that could develop into our child. The second and third happen in quick succession, before Dr Cooper instructs Bridget to stay in that position for half an hour before we are allowed to go home.  
“Well ladies the transfer seemed to go well, Bridget I want you in bed for the rest of the day and for the next few days only light tasks – that will give them the best chance to attach and grow.”  
“Thank you Dr Cooper for everything, I will be sure to take it easy, I have until Wednesday off work and I’m sure Franky will take good care of me.” I smile at Bridget and nod my head wildly at Dr Cooper in agreement at what Bridget has just said.  
“Sounds great then Bridget. I wish you two all the best and I shall see you back here on Monday 7th March, if any of the three embryos implanted today take that will make them one month into gestation by then so you HCG should be elevated and I may do a transvaginal exam if I feel there’s a need.”  
We exchange goodbyes with Dr Cooper and the nurse assisting her before we head home, where I proceed to put Bridget straight to bed. 

Chp14

It is the Wednesday morning of my first day back at work since we had the transfer. I have been feeling fine the past few days – only some mild cramps which we were told to expect. Franky has been brilliant at looking after me and making sure I’m comfortable and have what I need at hand, she is heading back to work again today as well, after taking a few holiday days to stay with me, I could tell by her demeanour as soon as we awoke this morning that she doesn’t want to be separated from me.  
“Hey Franky, come here, I’ll be fine at work babe, it’s only two classes then I’m in my office all day doing paperwork. Don’t worry, I’ll rest as much as possible.” I give her a quick kiss then grab my bag and keys.  
“I know you will baby, just call me if you need anything, I mean anything, bye!”  
It is now Friday night and we are both curled up on the sofa watching Netflix, something has been on my mind since I woke up but I’ve yet to say anything to Franky. As if she can read my mind she looks up at me and asks what’s wrong.  
“Well the thing is, and don’t get excited or anything but my period never came when it should have this month and like I said to Dr Cooper I have been regular for over 20 years. I know it’s only been one week and we have another week to wait but I can’t help wondering if maybe it’s worked.”  
“Oh wow, really? Any other symptoms you think you might have, are you feeling a bit tender anywhere? And when I ask that I mean your boobs” Franky says in an excited tone.  
“Well now that you mention it they have been a little, but I’m not sure if it’s just in my head because I want it to be real.” I say frowning slightly.  
“If only we had one of the best psychologists in the whole of Melbourne who could help differentiate between what’s physical and what’s in your head…oh wait a minute Gidge, that would be you!” Franky says with a wink and pokes my arm.  
“Oh very funny Franky, you know what I mean, and I’m just very impatient!”  
“Just over a week from now and we’ll know, we just need to wait a bit longer sweetie.” I smile at Franky and decide I’m going to take a nap snuggled against her side. 

Chp15

It is 9am on Monday 7th March and Bridget and I are in our Doctor’s office waiting urine results to come back for traces of an elevated HCG hormone. Depending on how high the level is, Dr Cooper says she may do a transvaginal ultrasound just to be sure.  
My wife has been rather upset since two mornings ago, when she woke up and noticed there was some blood in her underwear, she has assumed since then that this attempt has failed even though I’ve tried to tell her I’ve read about implantation bleeding and how common it can be to experience, however she now doesn’t want to get her hopes up by believing that’s what it was.  
I currently have Bridget’s hand in my own as we sit in the two seats opposite Dr Coopers’ desk, awaiting her return.  
“Good morning, how are you both doing?” Dr Cooper walks in, closing the door behind her and I decide that I will be the voice for my wife and I.  
“Hello Dr Cooper, we are not too bad thank you, Bridget had been feeling great until she noticed some blood in her underwear two mornings ago, so we’re not sure what to make of that.”  
“Okay, nothing to be worried about I’m sure, let me just pull up your file Bridget and the urine sample you provided the nurse will be there with the results.”  
After what felt like hours had passed Dr Cooper finally spoke again.  
“Right, let’s see now…okay I have you HCG reading here Bridget, these are reading extremely high, congratulations ladies, you’re pregnant.”  
“WHAT?!” We both burst out together, my grin has never been wider than it is right now. Bridget is literally shaking beside me so I wrap my arms around her and give her a kiss.  
“Bridget, Franky would you like a transvaginal ultrasound to have a look and 100% confirm or are you happy to wait until 8 weeks where I will perform a transabdominal ultrasound? It is completely up to you both. The only thing I will say is we normally don’t see too much until at least 5-6 weeks on the type of ultrasound I’m offering you today, and you are barely 4 weeks.”  
“It’s up to you Gidge, I have no issues waiting until 8 weeks, I think the level of HCG confirms that we’re pregnant anyway, and we’ll see a lot more if we wait I guess.”  
“I agree with Franky; I would like to wait until we hit the 8-week mark – even though right now that seems like so far away.”  
“Perfectly alright, I will give you two a minute in here and when you’re ready make an appointment for 4 weeks’ time at reception.”  
“Thank you Dr Cooper.” We say our goodbyes before I turn to my wife  
“Congratulations baby, we did it! There’s a little tiny baby starting to form in their Gidge.” I place my hand on her blouse covered stomach, still completely flat with no trace of our growing baby. I then lean over and capture her mouth with my lips, as she brings her hand over the top of mine and pulls back from my lips, tears on her cheeks and smiles.  
“I can’t wait to be mummies with you, Francesca Westfall-Doyle.”

Chp16

I am now 8 weeks along in this pregnancy and so far feel fantastic, our ultrasound with Dr Cooper is this afternoon and Franky and I are so excited, we are crossing our fingers that the little one is okay in there and also hoping that we get to hear the heartbeat. My wife has been the sweetest since we found out a month ago that we were expecting, I have not had any nausea yet, and for that I am extremely grateful.  
I sit here at my desk waiting for Franky to come to the University to pick me up for our appointment, I have made sure not to schedule any students in as I knew I would need to leave early today, so when I hear a knock at the door, it surprises me. I call for whoever it is to come in as the door is unlocked, however no one enters. I find it strange so I stand and make my way over to the door, opening it to find no one there. I happen to look down and see a white box, no larger than a shoebox at my feet. I carefully pick it up and bring it to my desk, where I put it down. That’s when I notice there is a card attached, it reads:  
‘Gidge, I saw this a few weeks ago, thought it was cute and as of today I want it to remind you of me, all my love, Franky xx’  
Intrigued, I open the box to find a small, but nevertheless adorable bear, kitted out in Lawyers robes, Franky’s right it does remind me of her, or at least the kind of attire she will wear one day.  
“Hey Gidge, I see you opened my gift.” Franky says with a smirk; she has another expression on her face that I’m not too familiar with as well.  
“Hi honey, yes I did, it was very thoughtful of you, I was just thinking how one day you will be wearing these robes, fighting cases in the courtroom.” I smile, thinking into the future and trying to imagine my wife in her robes, arguing her case.  
“Well I actually have another present for you.” She says slightly sheepishly as she pulls out some kind of document from her briefcase, handing it over to me.  
“Franky wha-Oh my God! I can’t believe this! 97% on your final law exams? Darling that is wonderful news!” I stride over for a tight embrace, then lean up to capture her lips.  
“There’s more Gidge, I’ve been headhunted by law firm Strathon&Myers, because of my test scores and great recommendations from Legal Aid, they want to offer me a newly available Partner position! Can you believe that? They want to make me Partner!”  
“Holy shit Franky, are you serious? That’s a lot to take in at once.” Sitting down at the sofa in my office, Franky joins me.  
“What do you think babe? Oh and before you get worried, the firm is here in Melbourne so no relocating, and my pay will be incredible, it will actually work out to be just over triple what I earn now, and that’s before any bonuses and commission, and let’s be honest, now more than ever we’re going to need the extra money.” She looks down at my still flat stomach and smiles. I take her hand and hold it tightly.  
“That’s amazing Franky, I am so proud of you baby, you’ve done so well! If this jobs is something that you want, which I’m quite sure it is then take it, I mean it’s not every day you will get offered Partner.”  
“Thank you, okay I’m glad you agree, I believe this is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I will be handing my notice in to Amelia and accepting this new position.” We share another quick kiss before I glance at the clock on my wall.  
“Shit Franky, our appointment is in 20 minutes, let’s hurry I want to see our baby!”

CHANGE TO FRANKY POV

Thankfully we make it to Bridget’s appointment with five minutes to spare – I have no idea how, but the main thing is we’re here and both so excited to see what is going on in there.  
“Hey Gidget, don’t look so worried, you’ve been feeling great for the past month since we found out, I’m positive everything is going to be just fine.” I say to my wife in the most comforting tone to try and soothe any fears she has.  
“I know darling, you’re right but you know I’m a worrier, of course I’m anxious to see little peanut for the first time and to see if Dr Cooper detects a heartbeat.”  
“Little peanut, huh? You’re too cute sometimes love-” I get cut off saying anymore by the receptionist calling us through to the Dr’s office. 

CHANGE TO BRIDGET POV

So here I am, laying down on the exam table, I have undone the button and zip of my black skinny jeans – which are starting to feel a bit tight, so I may need to go shopping in the coming weeks. I have also rolled up my cream blouse that I had worn to work that day. My abdomen is now exposed and ready for the ultrasound to begin. If I look very closely, I can see a slight bump sticking out the tiniest bit, directly above my pubic bone. Dr Cooper is just finishing setting up the machine then she assures us we are ready to go.  
“Bridget, I’m going to squeeze some gel on to your stomach, it may feel a little bit cold at first – sorry.” Dr Cooper is not kidding; I jump slightly at just how cool it feels against my skin.  
“I’m just going to move the wand over the lower part of your stomach, that’s where any development will be taking place.” Franky reaches out and takes my hand in her own as we wait to see any images appear on the screen, it’s my wife who reacts first.  
“Oh My God! Is that little white thing peanut?!” Franky asks excitably, I think it’s cute how she’s naming it peanut now too. I squint at the screen to look at the shape, Dr Cooper presses some buttons on the machine and soon enough the most wonderful sound fills the room. I look at Franky, we lock eyes and soon enough both have tears streaming down our faces – it really is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.  
“Well ladies, I have detected a single heartbeat which is great news, that means it looks like out of the three embryos, one of them has started to develop into your baby.”  
“Dr Cooper, that sounds like a really fast heart rate, is that normal?” I ask slightly concerned with how fast it sounds.  
“Yes Bridget, heart rate is 170bpm, over the next few weeks, as the foetus develops, the normal rate will be between 110-160bpm, but this is perfectly normal at this stage.” That helps to put my mind at ease, knowing it is normal for this point in the pregnancy.  
“As you can also see the shape is starting to form now, no limbs yet, but when you come back for your next ultrasound it will be a lot clearer. Your next appointment will be at 12 weeks, that will be the end of your first trimester and beginning of the second. During that appointment we will just take a listen to the heartbeat and make sure you are doing okay Bridget. The next time you see your baby will be when you are between 18-20 weeks, we would be able to say if you’re having a boy or girl by then if that is something you’ve changed your mind about knowing.”  
“Thank you Dr Cooper, we’ll be sure to make an appointment at reception for four weeks’ time then.” Franky adds before I can say anything.  
“Here you go, some printouts of the ultrasound, and I’ve also given you a copy of the video so you can hear the heartbeat whenever you want.”  
“That will no doubt be going on as soon as we get in!” I chuckle and look at Franky who’s giving me her best ‘duh, of course’ expression.  
“Also, I have dated the pregnancy so it looks like your due date will be 15th November 2016, but we will keep an eye on baby’s development to make sure everything stays on schedule.”  
“A November baby, wow Gidge, our first Christmas as a little family of three.” Franky says with a big smile. 

Chp17

Today I informed by boss, and very good friend Amelia about my job offer with Strathon&Myers, she took it much better than I expected and was very happy for me. Bridget is currently 11 weeks pregnant and her morning – or should I say all day sickness has been out in full force. She has had to take the past week off work with a ‘stomach flu’, we haven’t told anyone that we’re expecting yet, we want to get through the first trimester as that is the stage where most things can go wrong. I will now work my four weeks’ notice at Legal Aid before starting my new job, however Amelia knows Bridget has been sick all week and she has insisted I take the rest of the day off to be with my wife, something I am very grateful for.  
I’m on my way home right now, but I really want to get Bridget something to try and make her feel better, or at least cheer her up. Seeing her this sick is horrible and also scary, we’re hoping once she reaches the second trimester it will no longer be as much of a problem. Stuck at a set of traffic lights, I look over to my right where I see a baby boutique store, and there’s a parking space right out front – I can’t resist.  
Stepping into the boutique I am immediately overwhelmed by how much there is, the place is filled with cribs, prams, car seats, changing tables, clothes, toys and loads more that I haven’t a clue what could possibly be used for. The saleswoman must sense how out of my depth I am and comes bounding over, asking what I’m looking for.  
“Oh hi there, well yeah actually my wife is currently 11 weeks along and is feeling miserable, she’s sick all the time and is off work because it is so bad. Basically I want to get her something to cheer her up and I was passing by your store so thought I’d take a look.” Huh, first person to know about Bridget’s pregnancy is a complete stranger, I know for a fact my wife wants to hold a dinner party for her parents and some of our closest friends to tell them the news, I only hope she’s up to still doing that.  
“Well you have definitely come to the right place, do you have any ideas in mind for what you would like to get her? I’m presuming it will just be a little token and no large nursery item right now?”  
“Yeah, any big furniture items we will definitely be picking out together, my wife would kill me if I bought those things without her, I think she’s looking forward to that the most!” I say laughing when imagining Bridget’s face if she wasn’t included.  
“So I was thinking of getting a little onesie or something, we haven’t purchased anything so far since she’s been stuck in the house and I think that would get her excited and make it feel real, if you know what I mean.”  
“Completely, that sounds like a lovely idea, may I suggest a new born sized onesie in either white or lemon, as those are the most popular gender neutral, why don’t you have a look, that rail over there has all the new born onesies we have in the store.” I nod in agreement and walk over to where I was directed, I am now standing face to face with the smallest items of clothing I have ever seen, which are hanging on the smallest hangers I’ve ever seen as well. Shit, this is kinda scary, our kid is gonna fit in something this tiny! My eye catches a plain white onesie, that I know Bridget will love, I must admit it is cute, I pick it up and it feels so soft, so I take it over to pay at the checkout.  
“Very nice choice, I’m sure your wife will love this, a lot of people choose this sort of onesie for the day the bring the baby home.”  
“Well my wife likes simplistic, clean looking clothes so this should be perfect, I think we’ll both want to pick out an outfit for brining baby home though since it’s so special, oh could I have the hanger as well please, I just know Bridget will insist we hang this in our closet for now.” I smile as I get handed over the bag, the little onesie has been carefully wrapped in tissue paper.  
“I hope to see you back at some point, hopefully with your wife when she’s feeling better.”  
“Yes thank you, she would love it in here, goodbye!” and with that I leave to get home to my gorgeous wife. 

Chp18

I’m lying on the sofa covered by a blanket, reading ‘What to expect when you’re expecting’ – a book Franky bought when we decided to start a family. On the floor next to me is a bucket just in case I can’t make it to the bathroom on time. Franky text an hour ago saying she was finishing early today but had a quick errand to run before coming home, I hear a car pull up outside then keys in the lock.  
“Honey, I’m home, where you at babe?” I hear Franky hopping about discarding her shoes as I call to her that I’m on the sofa.  
“Aw, baby, how are you feeling today? Any sickness since I left?” she asks lifting my legs as she sits then taking them across her lap, starting to massage my feet and calves.  
“That feels so good darling. Well, if I don’t move then the nausea seems to stay away, hence why I’m laying here.” Franky looks at me with concern etched across her face and reaches for my hand.  
“I wish I could stay home with you every day until you started feeling better, I hate leaving you when you’re this sick Gidge.” I squeeze Franky’s hand back.  
“No honey I’m fine, and after our doctor’s appointment at the end of the week we can start to tell people and I’m sure my parents and friends won’t leave us alone after that.” Franky smiles and nods her head in agreement.  
“Well it will be their first grandchild, so I can only imagine, I can’t wait to see their faces when we tell them! About that, do you still want to organise a dinner party for Friday night to inform everyone, think you’ll be up for it?”  
“Yes, go ahead and plan it, we can’t keep it a secret forever, as soon as I feel better I really need to get maternity clothes, it’s not like I can wear your trackies and old band tees to work Franky.”  
“Ha, I’d love to see the professors and students faces if you turned up like that, since you’re always so impeccably dressed! Oh, speaking of clothes, I got you a little gift, it’s a bit small for you right now though…but it would definitely look good hanging up in our closet.” Franky has a cheeky smirk on her face as she hands me a bag. I start to open it up.  
“Franky, I swear this better not be lingerie! Oh.” My mouth hangs open as I pull out the soft fabric of a simple, white, new born sized onesie.  
“Oh Franky! It’s beautiful and so soft!” I feel all over the material, not wanting to put it down.  
“I’m so glad you like it Gidge, I thought you’d like the simple design, and of course how small and cute it is! I can’t believe our kid will fit in it though, it’s terrifying.”  
“I know Franky, it is scary but from what I’ve heard we better make the most of that stage, they soon get a lot bigger, not to mention more demanding and expensive!” We share a laugh then Franky pulls me into her lap for a sweet kiss, however the sudden movement unsettles my stomach and I need to frantically reach out for my bucket, where I proceed to empty the contents of my stomach into it while Franky holds my hair and rubs my back.  
“I’m sorry baby, I’ll remember in the future, no sudden movements.” I just mumble a reply as I collapse into her chest and she holds me tightly.

Chp19

So it is the day of the dinner party where we plan on telling Bridget’s parents and our friends the good news. There will be ten of us in total, Bridget and I, her parents Martha and William, Amelia and her husband Greg – they will be leaving five month old Benjamin at home tonight, but Bridget and I have already agreed to babysit in a few weeks. Two of Bridget’s colleagues Maura and James, and lastly, believe it or not Vera and Will. Bridget got friendlier with Vera after she left Wentworth and Vera and Will are now engaged. It’s funny how things turn out, I still keep in contact with some of the girls, everyone I was close with is still inside and we write letters on occasion. Last time I wrote was a few months ago, I can’t wait to let them know our big news though, all of them were always rooting for Bridget and I, right from the start. I think it’s fair to say they will be shocked to learn I’m going to be a mummy!  
Our 12-week appointment with Dr Cooper was two days ago, everything is looking perfect and just like the Doc said at our 8-week ultrasound, the heartrate is down to 165bmp, so starting to settle down.  
“Franky, can you get the door please darling? I’m just putting my shoes on.” I hear Bridget call from our room.  
“Yeah babe I’ll get it, take your time.” I call back to her. Peering through the door I see Amelia and Greg are first to arrive.  
“Hi guys, please come in and make yourself at home.” They hand me a bottle of wine, commenting that it is Bridget’s favourite – ‘Bridget will be thrilled’ I think sarcastically. I politely thank them and excuse myself to the kitchen to check on the food.  
Bridget comes striding into the kitchen a few minutes later to have a quick taste of the food, I turn around to face her and my jaw almost hits the floor when I see the rather tight, wrap style dress she has opted for.  
“Wow Gidge, I think you’re starting to show.” I whisper in her ear as I place a tentative hand on the slight rounding of her belly.  
“I know; do you think anyone will notice before we make the announcement? This was the least revealing dress I had, I definitely need to go shopping tomorrow or Sunday before I return to work on Monday.” I go to say something but the doorbell rings again, this time Bridget answers and greets her parents and colleagues. Another ten minutes go by then we are joined by Vera and Will.  
“Would everyone like to take a seat at the table, dinner is ready.” I say and conversations halt momentarily as seats are taken, glasses are filled and dishes served. The meal goes smoothly, with everyone complimenting me on the great food, and making small talk with one another. It is nice to see our family and friends get on so well, it makes me even more excited for when the baby gets here when I look at who they will be calling their grandparents, aunts and uncles.  
I look over to Bridget who is sitting beside me and smile, we join hands under the table and wait until there is a natural lull in conversation before I ask for everyone’s attention. Immediately the table falls totally silent and eight sets of eyes are staring at Bridget and I. well, ‘here goes nothing’ I think and give a squeeze to the hand in my own.  
“Everyone is probably wondering why Bridget and I asked you all here tonight, we actually have some really big news to let you all in on.” I give Bridget a quick nod indicating her turn to speak, she gives me a huge smile, then turns her attention back to the table, where all our guests are waiting patiently.  
“I’M PREGNANT!” she can hardly contain her glee as she shouts out the news to our very shocked audience. Her father is the first to open his mouth.  
“That is fantastic! Oh Martha! Our little girl is going to be a mother! I am so happy for you both!”  
“Yes dear that is wonderful news, Oh William, our first grandchild!”  
Everyone else has yet to say anything.  
“Well the new job makes perfect sense now Franky, congrats you guys you will both me great! I’ll be sure to give you Benjamin all the time now so you can get in the practice.” Amelia winks at us, but part of me thinks she probably isn’t joking.  
“Yes, Bridget, Franky that is such fantastic news, it really is clear how much you love each other, I’ve seen it since more or less day one – your baby will be so lucky to have you both as it’s mothers’.” Vera says to us and I see Bridget at the corner of my eye wiping her tears away at the words.  
After everyone is done saying their congratulations, giving messages of good luck and telling us they’re only a phone call away if we need anything, I politely request and end to the evening, seeing how exhausted Bridget looks, I tell them all I need to get my pregnant wife tucked up in bed.

Chp20

When morning arrives I awaken laying on my back and feel something quite heavy pressed against my stomach, I open my eyes to find Franky already awake and rubbing gentle circles on a patch of exposed skin where my nightshirt has ridden up during the night. It’s true what they say, your stomach does seem to just ‘pop’ overnight and Franky looks in awe of the newly formed little bump low down on my abdomen.  
“Morning sweetie” I say to Franky stifling a small yawn. Her hand immediately stops its ministrations when I speak and she looks up at me.  
“Morning sleepy head, sorry if I woke you up” she replies sheepishly. It’s so cute the way she goes all shy.  
“You didn’t wake me, I do need to pee though, then I need to find something that’ll fit while we go clothes shopping, do you know that since our appointment three days ago, I’ve had to use an elastic band with my jeans, so I really need to get new clothes Franky.” I can tell she is trying not to laugh so I give her a pout, which she proceeds to just kiss until I give her a smile.  
“Okay, okay you need to let me get up now Franky, I really don’t want to have a little accident.” Almost instantaneously she jumps away and fakes a disgusted look, at least I can now get up and ready for the day.  
We make it to a small store that I found on-line specializing in maternity wear for all stages, I’ve obviously only just recently started to show so I’m unsure what I should buy, luckily a very friendly saleswoman named Alex has been helping me for the last hour, so far everything has some form of elasticated waist, that Alex has assured me will expand along with my growing bump. I can see Franky starting to get bored, even I’m starting to get disinterested by it all, so after two hours and almost $1000 we are ready to head home.  
“That was a successful trip the Gidge, you happy with what you got?” Franky asks as she insists on unloading the car of all ten bags, the only thing I’m allowed to carry is my handbag.  
“Yes I am actually, I was unsure what kind of clothes they would have that would be at least somewhat fashionable but what I’ve ended up with is just like my regular wardrobe, only stretchy.” I say cheerfully as I look at Franky who is laden down with the ten bags full of my new purchases.  
“I’ve got to say babe, those skirts and dresses were a surprise, a very nice surprise! You are going to look super-hot in them, total MILF material in the making, if you know what I mean.” Franky winks at me as I look at her, I must say her words have turned me on quite a bit, now that my sickness seems to be behind me, I have a feeling I’ve already started the next stage I read about – the raging libido. Not that I think Franky will have a problem with that, at least, unlike the sickness she can definitely do something to help me out.  
As Franky puts down all the bags next to the closet, I jump on her and wrap my legs around her waist and my arms around her neck, giving her a fierce and heated kiss, I’m quite sure this will help her understand what I need right now.  
“Wow Gidge slow down! Baby please be careful.” Her words fall on deaf ears, I need my wife, and I need her now!  
Franky walks us over to the bed, the last time we had sex was on the night of our first anniversary, well technically morning I suppose, and that time she threw me down on the bed and straddled my waist. I guess a lot really has changed since then now, as we reach the bed she deposits me ever so carefully so as not to hurt either of us – the baby and I, I mean. She then carefully strips me down to my underwear and places kisses all over my body, worshipping every inch of my skin, I notice she is spending a particularly long time at my bellybutton and slightly lower, not low enough for where I need her mouth to be though, so I gently push her down.  
“Hey baby, how are you feeling?” Franky asks after I’ve caught my breath and calmed down.  
“I feel amazing, thank you my love. I am exhausted! Give me five minutes and then it’s your turn.”  
“Nope, you are going to take a nap and get your rest, besides just watching you was enough for me.” She winks at me and raises her eyebrows.  
“Really? I’m that sexy huh? Okay well thank you darling” Franky puts her hand on my stomach, gives it a quick rub and kiss, then kisses my awaiting lips.  
“Now I want my two most important people to rest up okay, I’ll have dinner ready for you when you wake up love.”  
“Hmm, I love you, Franky.”  
“Love you too Gidge.”

Chp21

Over the last few weeks, Bridget’s bump has definitely become more noticeable, we are at 16 weeks now and I started my new job on Monday. One of the first things I brought up with my new boss Marcus was the fact that my wife was pregnant, informing him I would be needing time off to go to appointments with her. I must say I was a bit unsure what his reaction would be, but as it turns out, he has just had his third kid with wife, Julie and says he never missed anything baby related as family is much more important than work. He also discussed with me what leave I would be entitled to after the baby is born – so we have a preliminary agreement in place that I will get three weeks paid leave, then I will take three weeks unpaid. I want to spend as much time as possible with Bridget and the baby, especially so early on.  
Bridget has been back at work full-time now following her sickness, she informed the University Principle on her return that we were expecting and she was thrilled for us. The Principle informed Bridget that she is entitled to take six months paid maternity leave, which Bridget and I both think is great, and she can also extend that for another six months unpaid if she wants – her job will be there for her when she gets back.  
As I get home later than planned tonight, Bridget has already eaten and has kindly left me a plate to heat up. I get my food and head to the Livingroom with the intention of eating on the sofa and watching TV, however that piece of furniture is currently being occupied by my wife, who is sprawled out on it, blanket draped over her legs, reading glasses on, and our copy of ‘What to expect when you’re expecting’ open and lying face down on her chest. ‘she must have fallen asleep’ I think to myself as I extract the book from her chest, insert the bookmark and place it on the coffee table. I then remove her glasses and give her a quick kiss on the forehead before turning my attention to the blanket. I decide to pull it up as far as her chest, but not before I dip my head down and place a kiss on her expanding bump.  
I decide to sit in the arm chair with my plate of food and also grab the book, curious about what’s happening with the baby this week.  
After I’m finished eating and reading all relevant information pertaining to week 16, I wash the dishes in the kitchen and tidy the house up a bit. I then look at the time and I’m surprised to see it is 10pm, ‘we really should be getting to bed’, so I go over to the sofa with the intention of waking my wife for bed – but she looks so peaceful and she’s probably had an exhausting day, ‘yeah I doubt it can be easy making a person’ I muse. I decide that she’s hardly gained any weight so I carry her bridal style to our bed. It’s not until I’m undressing her that she wakes up.  
“Hey baby, I’ve just brought you through to bed, you looked so peaceful I didn’t want to disturb you” I say in a low voice so I don’t startle her.  
“Hi, huh, did I fall asleep on the sofa? Damn I really wanted to finish reading about what was going on with peanut this week.” She instinctively brings her hand to her stomach and rubs gently, I’ve noticed she’s been doing that increasingly the last few weeks without even realising.  
“Yes you did honey, but luckily for you I read all about week 16 while eating dinner, so let’s get changed, then I’ll tell you everything.” She nods and we head of in the direction of the bathroom.  
15 minutes later and we are both back in bed, cuddled up under the covers. Bridget is laying on her back so I turn on my left side so I’m facing her.  
“Well Gidge, this week our little baby has developed the ability to hear external noises, so when we talk from now on that will help when it comes to him or her recognising us when they’re born. Hopefully that means we will be able to settle them better when their crying at 3am” I say this to Bridget while pulling up her pyjama top and placing my right hand on her belly.  
“That is quite amazing, darling, we’ll need to watch what we say to each other now if peanut can hear us.” I nod in agreement.  
“Oh and also, their little arms and legs are starting to function so they can move around now – how cool is that! I read that you can expect to feel little flutters in your belly but I won’t be able to feel anything for a few weeks probably.” I pout as I say this, as that is the stage of this pregnancy I am most excited for…well apart from the actual baby being born of course!  
“Don’t be sad honey, if I feel any little flutters you will be the first to know, and maybe our kid will kick earlier than usual you never know.”  
“I know it’ll happen at some point; you know how impatient I can be though! Anyway, you get some sleep, we both have to get up early for work.”  
“You’re right, okay goodnight, love you.”  
“Love you too.” I say as I tighten my arm around her waist. 

Chp22

I have been so nervous about tonight for the past few weeks now, and I know it’s ridiculous but I can’t help but worry. Our friend and Franky’s old boss, Amelia is going on ‘date night’ with her husband Greg and we are babysitting. What makes me even more terrified is the fact that we are keeping Benjamin overnight and his parents will pick him up some time on Saturday. I haven’t really expressed to Franky yet just how worried I am that I will not be a good mother to our baby. I have only held Benjamin the once, and that was when he was a few weeks old, to be honest he’s the only baby I ever remember holding my entire adult life, which is crazy but I don’t have many, if really any at all friends with children.  
Benjamin will be here in less than one hour. I really hope Franky knows what she has agreed to by signing us up for this, I mean I know we need the practice and stuff but I have signed us up for parenting classes that we start when I reach 30 weeks, and I’m only 18 weeks now so that’s still in the distant future.  
Crap, that’s the doorbell! Franky called me half an hour ago saying she was stuck in traffic and was going to pick up food on her way home as well, but Benjamin is here now!  
“Just coming!” I shout as I move as fast and as carefully through the house as I can.  
“Hi Amelia, Greg how are you both? Hi Benjamin.” I coo over little Benjamin, he’s gotten so big since I last saw him, well that was over five months ago now I guess, huh, ‘they do get big fast’ I reflect as I look at him.  
“Hi Bridget, thank you so much for doing this, is Franky here?”  
“She was stuck in traffic then picking up some takeout but shouldn’t be long.”  
“Well I hate to just dump him on you like this, but our reservation is in 20 minutes.”  
“Not a problem, just bring his stuff through to the Livingroom and I’ll get it all sorted.” Greg carries Benjamin in his car seat, as well as a travel crib and Amelia has his overnight bag, just like Franky has been they won’t let me carry anything heavy.  
“Okay Bridget, I guess that’s us then. We’ll just let ourselves out, thanks again so much for tonight, we totally owe you and Franky when the time comes!” Greg says to me as they rush out of the door, closing it behind them.  
“Okay Benjamin, it would be so good of you, baby boy if you wait until your aunt Franky gets here before you wake up.” I am now surrounded by various items of baby paraphernalia, I’m not sure what most things are used for but that will all change soon. Right okay, first things first, let’s get this travel crib set up so he can have a proper sleep. 

FRANKY POV

I feel dreadful, I should have been home an hour ago but between the traffic and a massive line at the Thai place we like, I have managed to leave Bridget on her own with a 6-month old baby for over half an hour now. I step through the door to my home and am instantly greeted by the screams of Benjamin, coming from the Livingroom. ‘Everything’s going smoothly then, I see’ shit my wife is going to kill me.  
“Gidge, where are you baby? Sorry it took so long there was a line and traffic was a nightmare” I listen out for a reply but don’t get one, Benjamin is crying so loud she probably can’t hear me.  
I step in to the Livingroom and see my wife, sitting on the floor crying her eyes out, as she stares at something on the ground. I run as fast as I can to her and sit down beside her.  
“Gidge” no reply.  
“Gidge” still nothing.  
“Bridget! What’s happened? Baby look at me why are you so upset?” I stare at her waiting for a reply, she doesn’t meet my eyes so I pull her in to my body.  
“I’m sorry Franky, I’m so, so sorry!” She gets out between sobs. Oh god why is Bridget apologising? My brain is going into overdrive thinking of worst case scenarios.  
“What for baby, tell me please.” My voice is starting to shake with emotion as well and I’m going into a panic.  
“Oh Franky! Sorry! I know that this meant so much to you.” Oh God no, this is worse than I thought, something’s happened with the baby, that’s why she’s acting so devastated. I start crying as well as we sit there for what feels like forever but in reality has only been a minute or two.  
“I mean, Amelia and Greg must be so used to doing it, that’s probably why I didn’t find any instructions when I took it out the bag.” What the hell? I just look up at her with a confused look on my face.  
“Instructions for what, Gidge?”  
“The travel crib Franky! Benjamin can’t get put down for his nap until I set up the crib, I tried but couldn’t! I changed him, fed him and played with him but he’s exhausted and I can’t put it up!”  
I look around and Benjamin is red in the face from crying so much and toys are scattered everywhere.  
I take Bridget by the arm, and with a bit my force than I intended to use make her turn to look at me in the eye.  
“Bridget! You had me so fucking scared when I saw you in that state!” I only just manage to choke out.  
“I thought something must have happened to Peanut because you were crying so hard!” This time it’s Bridget trying to calm me down as she holds me tight.  
“Oh God Franky I’m sorry, I never even thought, I just got so upset when I couldn’t even put a travel crib together, it pushed all the fears I’ve been having about being a terrible mother to the surface I guess, I just couldn’t take it, and he was crying so much and nothing I did was enough, I’m sorry!” Wait, Bridget thinks she’s not going to be a good mum to Peanut?  
“What, no Gidge you are going to be great, trust me it’s going to be different when it’s our kid, Benjamin just doesn’t know us that’s all, we’re going to have a bond with Peanut and we’ll know exactly what it is they need okay, believe me baby.”  
“Okay Franky I trust you, I’m still so sorry though, I never should have reacted like that over something so trivial.”  
“Babe, this is why you need to talk to me and let me know what you’re feeling, okay? Your hormones are everywhere right now so you’re bound to be having these thoughts, just promise me you’ll talk to me in the future okay.”  
“Yes darling, I promise I’ll come and talk to you if something is bothering me again. Thank you, I love you.”  
“I love you too, Bridget. Oh and you little Peanut.” I bring my hand to Bridget’s belly and rub circles over it.  
“I swear my stomach is growing by the second now” Bridget says looking down at my hand.  
“That’s fine with me, just more of you to love.” I give her a quick kiss.  
“Right Gidge, I’ll attempt to sort out this travel crib contraption thingy, you get the little guy and play with him on his mat or something and try calm him down, okay?” she nods and takes Benjamin out of his car seat, deposits him on the floor and lies sideways next to him, ticking his tummy and making funny noises. ‘she has nothing to worry about, she’s going to do just fine’ I think as I set up the crib. 

Chp23

We are back at Dr Cooper’s office for the first time in 8 weeks, we are here for our 20-week scan, making me halfway through this pregnancy. It’s amazing how fast the time seems to be going in, I’ve really just been trying to enjoy it because I know the further along I get the more uncomfortable I’m going to be. Both Franky and I have agreed that we do not want to know the sex of the baby, we want a surprise on the day of the birth. At the end of the day, as long as the little one is healthy, that’s all that matters to us.  
Dr Cooper enters her office and instructs me to lay on top of the exam table so she can start her examination.  
“Okay, well you’re measuring perfect for 20 weeks Bridget, you’re 20cm and we should find you are one centimetre for every week you have been pregnant. I’m now going to use the Doppler to find the baby’s heart rate, anything between 110 to 160bpm is completely fine.” Dr Cooper squeezes a small amount of gel on my stomach and moves it around until the room fills with the sound of our baby’s heartbeat.  
“I don’t think I’ll ever tire from hearing that sound, Gidge, oh look it’s come down to 147bpm, that’s good, right Doc?”  
“Yes, that is perfect, Bridget have you felt any movement yet?” I look at Franky with concern upon hearing the question, this has been slightly worrying me since I was 16 weeks and Franky had said I should be starting to feel some flutters, I’ve either missed them happening or the baby has decided to remain shy.  
“Umm, no Dr Cooper, that was something we were actually going to ask, I mean I’m five months now, is it possible I’ve mistaken them for something else or just missed them? Or could this be a sign something is wrong?”  
“Well, I wouldn’t be too concerned right now, the limb muscles are only starting to form and develop so it is definitely possible you are feeling the movements but registering them as things like gas or your digestion of food. We are performing an ultrasound today anyway so I’ll keep an eye on the limbs to see if I note any movement on the monitor. Now let’s me get the machine over so we can start.”  
I can see Franky is so excited by this, especially since it’s been 12 weeks since we last actually saw the baby, it was more or less just a white blob last time but the ultrasound today will show use fingers and toes and even some facial features.  
“Right, if you look at the screen, there is your baby, this here is the back, if we follow up the spine, there is baby’s head, now if I turn the wand ever so slightly, ah yes there we go, say hi to your baby ladies, there’s the nose, then that is the lips – almost looks like a little pout right now” Oh My God the Doctor is not wrong, I swear I have seen the exact expression on Franky’s face before!  
“Those are the eyes, now I’ll zoom out and take some photos of the entire face and head” I’m crying now, our little baby looks so perfect, the little button nose has a resemblance to Franky’s as well. I turn away from the screen to look at my wife who is fairing slightly better than me emotionally, but not by much.  
“I hope Peanut looks like you darling, I honestly think I can already see similarities.” Franky starts laughing at the slight ridiculousness of what I’m saying.  
“Gidge, how can you already tell Peanut looks like me?”  
“I guess it’s just wishful thinking, my love.” My eyes start to well up with more tears. Franky reaches for my hand and rubs circles with her thumb over my palm.  
“Here are the baby’s arms, hands and then fingers, Bridget, I’m just going to press down a bit to see if baby reacts, okay?” I nod at Dr Cooper, Franky and I watch the screen closely to observe what is going on. Wait, that looked like the arm changed position slightly, I didn’t feel anything but the image on the screen moved.  
“Well the baby definitely reacted and moved an arm, my conclusion would be the internals kicks and punches are still very light, give it another week or two and even Franky should start to feel something on the outside.”  
“Well fingers crossed, we are both very eager to experience the movements. What about measurements, Doc? Is the baby on track with length and weight?”  
“Yes Franky, baby looks to be about 10 inches long and I would give an approximate weight of 11 ounces – so yes looking great. If I remember correctly, you both don’t want to know the sex?”  
“No, we would like to be surprised when the baby is born, so many people seem to already know before the birth these days we thought it would be nice to have the anticipation. As long as Peanut is healthy.” I say, happy to know that from all the information we just received, Peanut is very healthy.  
Dr Cooper gives us some photos of the baby, the close ups of the face are by far the best, I’ll be digging out the few baby photos we have around the house of Franky and comparing them when we get home.  
As we leave the Dr’s office Franky asks if I want to go for a walk or anything before we head home, but it’s almost zero out, July in Melbourne is the coldest month of the year so instead I suggest we just go home and have a nice cosy day in and watch a movie, Franky seems to also think that is the better option. 

Chp24

Bridget is now 22 weeks and within the last few days she says she has felt, what she thinks are little movements but I’ve still not felt a thing. The book we are reading says I should have been able to feel something by now and I’m starting to get impatient. So here we are, it’s 8pm on Friday night and Bridget is laying down on the sofa as I crouch beside her, both hands rubbing slow, gentle circles on the taunt skin of her stomach, I put my lips mere inches away from her bellybutton.  
“Hey baby, it’s your mummy here, I can’t wait to meet you. I know you must be all cosy in there but it would be so cool if you would say hi to me and your other mummy.” I wait eagerly to see if my voice might get the baby to react.  
“Franky, I know it’s frustrating, I feel the same, but I’m sure when Peanut is ready he or she will let us know.” I pout at my wife; I know she is right but I’ve been waiting for this for weeks now!  
“Yeah Gidge, still though, what if Peanut just doesn’t like me or my voice or something?” The look Bridget is giving me is enough to make me realise she isn’t even going to waste her breath answering me.  
“Come on Peanut, please baby let me know you’re okay in there.” I coo at Bridget’s belly as I now have my lips pressed to a spot right underneath her bellybutton.  
“Holy shit!” I jump back, almost landing on the coffee table.  
“Gidge! Was that?”  
“Yes darling it was, now quick, get back over here before Peanut gets stubborn again.” I quickly scramble to my knees and kneel back down in front of Bridget and place my right hand on the exposed belly while using my left to stroke through Bridget’s hair.  
“Peanut has found their arms and legs for sure!” I say with a beaming smile and lean down to Bridget’s lips and kiss them with a passion. That’s when I feel a particularly hard ‘thump’ against my palm.  
“Looks like someone wants your full attention babe.” Bridget says smiling against my lips, I remove my mouth from hers and trail it down her neck, then the valley between her breasts until I finally reach the bump. I place kisses all over where our baby is growing, feeling the occasional ripple against my lips.  
“Okay, Gidge this was worth the wait! How amazing is this? I can’t believe it’s finally happening!”  
“No, what I can’t believe is you have been waiting for this moment for almost a month and as soon as you feel something moving in there you jump back and fall on your arse as if a scene from Alien is about to take place.” Bridget can’t stop laughing now, and okay I admit it wasn’t one of my finest moments.  
“I was just surprised that after weeks of poking and prodding your belly Peanut finally gave in to us and reacted!”  
“God, this is just the start, it’s all cute for you but when Peanut gets stronger, these kicks and punches are going to majorly hurt. I’ve heard the horror stories of ribs and bladders and even lungs being kicked, it’s crazy Franky! I guess it’ll all be worth it in the end though.” Bridget says with a slight smile and then lays her left hand down next to my right, which is still pressed against her belly.  
“You bet it will baby, Peanut just needs to cook in there for a little bit longer first though.”  
We don’t go to bed until very late, we’re content on just feeling the movements coming from our newly mobile baby. 

Chp25

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Franky so excited to go shopping, most of the time I have to drag her out of the house, but that’s all change now. We are currently heading to the baby store that Franky has been to once before, I believe it is where she purchased the beautiful white onesie she surprised me with a few months back. We figured it was finally time to buy the essentials for the baby, since before we know it Peanut will be here, plus at 24 weeks I’m still mobile enough to help with getting the nursery prepared, and I presume anything we order will have at least a few weeks’ delivery time, so we’ll be lucky to get any furniture before I’m 28 weeks I reckon. Last weekend, we tidied out the spare bedroom adjacent to ours that we are using for the nursery. Franky called in a few favours from our friends and luckily Greg and Will were available to help her remove the old furniture and take it to a charity shop in town. While they were doing that Amelia, Maura and Vera volunteered to paint the nursery, insisting that I leave them to do that job because the fumes could be bad for the baby – I wasn’t complaining, it meant I got to sit and relax for a while after a tough week at work. The baby’s room is now painted a lovely pale lemon colour, which is great as it’s gender neutral.  
We have just pulled up to the store and thankfully there’s a space right outside, we are driving the Porsche today, which has been a topic of conversation lately. I love this car so much, however it is far from baby friendly, even Franky’s car – a VW Golf would be hard pushed to fit all things baby in when we go on trips. Car shopping is definitely on the agenda for before the birth, that’s for sure, but today I think we’ll focus on the baby – one thing at a time.  
“Gidge, you are going to love this store! It has everything, I’m so excited for you to see all the cute little outfits!”  
“God, what have you done with my wife? Since when are you gushing over ‘cute little outfits’?”  
“You will understand when we get in, trust me.” Franky puts her hand on my lower back and guides me into the store.  
“Hi ladies, welcome to Baby Boutique. Oh I remember you!” it appears the saleswoman recognises my wife,  
“Ah, yes I was in a few months ago to get my wife here a little present to cheer her up, but today we have come to look at the larger nursery items we will need.”  
“No problem, all furniture for the nursery is over there.” The saleswoman points and I turn to see a lot of cribs, changing tables, wardrobes – literally everything we will need for the baby’s room.  
“Well I think we’ll start over there then, thank you.” I nod at the woman and take Franky by the hand as we go and explore the various ranges of furniture.  
“What about this set Gidge? I like the white finish more than the wood, I think with the lemon colour on the walls it will look really good, keeps the room bright and fresh.” I just stare at Franky as if she has grown a second head.  
“Since when did you become an interior designer babe? You been taking classes in that too?” I smirk at her but she just looks at me with wide eyes.  
“Umm, well…I might have done quite extensive internet research before coming here today.” She says shyly, oh god could she get any more adorable?  
“Darling, hey look at me, this is so sweet, I’m glad you did because if not I wouldn’t even know what we actually need to buy. You’re already taking such good care of this baby.” Just as I say that I feel what I think is a little fist against my stomach.  
“Oh Franky quick give me your hand.” I grab her hand and slide it under my jumper so her palm is against my bare flesh.  
“Aw Peanut is moving again; I love you both so much.”  
“I think that’s Peanut’s way of saying this is the furniture they would like for their bedroom, and we love you too.” I give my wife a quick kiss before we tell the saleswoman this is the furniture we want.  
“Great choice, so it will be a 4-6 week delivery on the pieces you want, would you like the furniture assembled on delivery as well?”  
“No, that won’t be necessary I can build my own kids’ stuff thanks.” Ah, there’s my Franky, far too proud to get help from strangers, I’ll just let her agree, we can always get Amelia and Greg to help, after all they have just had to do their own with Benjamin.  
“Okay, well is there anything else I can help you with today?” well I know for a fact there is a lot more still to get and I would like to get a stroller and car seat actually.  
“I think we’ll have a look over at the baby transportation section, might as well since we’re here.” Franky nods at me in agreement and we walk over towards the strollers.  
“Shit Gidge, where the hell do we start here? There’s loads of them, I didn’t have a chance to read up on transport for a baby yet.” Franky says with a hint of trepidation.  
“Well, luckily I did! So I want one we can have until toddler stage, they come with a car seat as well so it covers all basis.” I say with a proud smile actually having some knowledge on baby stuff.  
“What about that one? ICandy travel system, has a car seat, adjustable headrest as Peanut gets bigger and stroller is good until approx. 24 months.” It looks a really good choice, until I see the price!  
“$1400 for a stroller! Jesus Christ Franky, is it gold plated?!” that just seems a lot for such a small person.  
“Yeah, but Gidge, this is like a two-year investment, if you think about it, it’s like $60 per month.” Huh, that’s a good point I guess.  
“Well do you like that one Franky? Can you imagine pushing Peanut around in it?” Wrong question! Franky as grabbed a doll from a nearby shelf and buckled it in to the car seat.  
“Yes! This is the one! Look, it only took like 20 seconds to fasten!”  
“Ah, yes Franky, I’m sure the baby will be that still and cooperative when you try to put them in it.”  
“You may have a point, but I like this one, I can picture us out for walks pushing this along, what you think?” I push the stroller up and down a few times, it does look very stylish I must admit.  
“Let’s get it, then we can pick up a few more outfits, but then we really need to leave before we need to re-mortgage the house!”  
“Ha! I know babe, it’s all just so exciting, I’d buy the entire store if we could afford it.”  
“Same here Franky, right let’s get some clothes then go pay.”  
“Fuck, did we really just spend almost $11,000 in there Gidge?”  
“Yes I think we did, let’s hope you get some big cases with high commission this month babe!”  
“Thank god that Partner job came along when it did! This kid is draining the bank and they’re not even here yet!”

Chp26

Bridget is receiving some sort of an award at the university today, I didn’t think I would be able to make it because I’ve just landed a huge case, but thankfully Marcus gave me the afternoon off so I could go and play the role of supportive wife. I’ve arrived just in time by the looks of things, the Principle is on the stage and I spot Bridget sitting on a chair to her left, awaiting her name being announced. I take a seat two rows from the front of the stage, grateful that I can get this close.  
“I would like to announce the winner of this years’ ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Department of Psychology’ award, the person receiving it this year has been with us for almost three years now and during that time student grades and attendance have improved vastly. Please put your hands together for this year’s winner – Bridget Westfall-Doyle.” I have such a huge smile on my face, I’m clapping and cheering for my wife like an idiot but I don’t care, I’m just so proud of her achievement. Bridget stands up, smoothing out the non-existing wrinkles from her dress as she does, she walks toward the Principle who hands her a plaque and gives her hand a shake, before taking her place behind the podium.  
“Thank you all so much, this is such an honour to be awarded this…” Why is she stopping? Her face looks weird, what’s going on? I stand up from my seat and that’s when it happens, before I can do anything at all to help, my wife is on the floor. I call her name as I rush on to the stage and kneel down beside her.  
“Gidge, baby open your eyes for me. Someone get an ambulance!” I scream out into the crowd of people.  
“Honey, please wake up, please Bridget!” I’m crying uncontrollably now as I lean over my wife, looking for any signs of injury – after all she did fall down quite hard, her eyes are still closed and I can honestly say I’ve never been more terrified in my life.  
As we reach the hospital I get bombarded with questions.  
“Yes, my wife Bridget Westfall-Doyle, she’s currently 26 weeks pregnant and I’m not sure what happened, she was accepting an award and talking to the crowd one minute then the next thing I know she’s on the floor.”  
After a thorough examination by the Doctor and Bridget waking up, we wait to hear the results and find out the cause of what happened.  
“Well, the good news is that this was nothing serious, it appears that you fainted while on the stage – I’m putting it down to overheating and dehydration. You need to make sure you consume higher amounts of fluids, especially when you are somewhere with high temperatures.”  
“And the baby?” Bridget is looking very guilty right now, I just know for a fact she will beat herself up about this happening, but I’m not blaming her – we all make mistakes and she was so focused on the award she must have just forgot to drink enough water.  
“Baby looks fine; heartrate was a little fast when you first came in but it has slowed back into a stable rate since we administered the IV fluids – you have nothing to worry about. You have a few bruises on your stomach, they must be from where you fell down but baby is very well protected in there so all looks good. You might have a bit of discomfort for a few days until the bruises heal, just take it easy and get lots of rest and fluids okay?”  
“Okay yeah that’s great thanks Doc, can I take my wife home now?” I ask the Doctor, relieved to hear that both Bridget and the baby are perfectly healthy.  
“Yes you can, just make sure she relaxes and having the rest of the day in bed wouldn’t be a bad idea.”  
Once home I put Bridget straight to bed, it’s only 4.30pm but I’m sticking with the Doctors advice and taking no chances with her or the baby’s health. I sit down next to her for a moment.  
“Okay sweetie, you get some rest and I’ll start making dinner, we can eat it here in bed tonight and watch some TV, does that sound good?”  
“Yes Franky that sounds perfect, I’m so sorry that all of this happened today, I never meant to neglect myself or the baby, I was just getting so nervous about my speech and I know that’s not an excuse but I really did just forget to take water with me and I didn’t drink anything all morning, I guess the heat in the auditorium didn’t help much.” I take a hold of Bridget’s cheek with my hand as a few tears start to fall from her eyes, I use the pad of my thumb to wipe them away, then lean in to capture her lips in a soft, slow kiss.  
“Don’t blame yourself Gidge, it was a mistake and you know now that you need to up your fluid intake. The main thing is both of you are fine – the baby’s heartrate went back to normal once you were rehydrated so no damage done, and the bruises on your stomach will fade in a few days, like the Doc said baby was well protected in there, okay?” I lock eyes with her as she slowly nods her head in agreement. I then move down the bed so my head is laying directly in front of the bump, I take my right hand and lift up the nightshirt she is wearing. The bruises look much worse than they are, it’s more the left side that has then as that’s the side she landed on as she fell. I gently start to rub my hand around the spot where we can normally feel little legs kicking, and I am immediately greeted by a few small thumps against my hand.  
“See Gidge, that’s the baby’s way of telling us they are completely fine – that we have nothing to worry about because they’re all safe and cosy in there okay?” Bridget again nods and places her hand on top of mine.  
“Right, well I shall go and start dinner for us, you and Peanut rest up okay?” I place a small kiss on Bridget’s belly.  
“Now Peanut, be good for mummy, she needs her rest – no acrobatics or anything, got it?” I get a small kick back in reply, hmm ‘kid already not doing what I say’ I think quietly to myself.  
“Thanks Franky, now go make dinner please – I’m starving!” I laugh at my wife, give her a quick kiss on the forehead and head to the kitchen.  
“Yes Ma’am!” I call out as I reach the bedroom door. 

Chp27

I requested a week off from work so that Franky and I could go on a vacation, Franky has been calling it our ‘Babymoon’ and I guess that is accurate as it’s the last time we will get away anywhere before the baby is born. At 28 weeks pregnant I must admit I am starting to get slightly uncomfortable, thankfully all my bruises have not faded and the baby is doing fine – I know this because they haven’t stopped kicking since my hospital visit two weeks ago. At first it was cute and helped reassure Franky and I that all was well with Peanut, but after a few days passed with sleepless night and frequent trips to the bathroom, the novelty has somewhat worn off – which sounds terrible but having a baby sit on my bladder most of the day is not a fun experience.  
“What do you want to do for dinner tonight Gidge? Will we get something delivered or do you want to go to the restaurant again?” We are staying at a beautiful resort not too far from the beach we got married on, this is the third out of the five nights we are staying.  
“What would you prefer darling? We’ve ate at the restaurant the past two nights so I guess we could just eat in tonight.”  
“I think I’d prefer that, plus I know you haven’t been sleeping great so maybe we could snuggle up on the sofa and watch a movie or something.”  
“You have no idea how appealing that sounds, I’m going to change out of my beachwear and put something more comfortable on, why don’t you get the room service menu and pick for us.”  
“As you wish babe.” Franky gives me a gentle kiss and wraps her arm around my expanding midsection, giving my belly a small tap with her fingers, just as she does the baby responds to the touch.  
“This kid is crazy active, feels like they’re doing a marathon in there!”  
“You don’t need to tell me Franky, now go order food, I’m hungry – and yes before you say it I know I’m always hungry, I can’t help it – eating for two and all!” I walk off has Franky just laughs to go and change.  
A little while later we are sat on the couch, bellies full from the wonderful Thai dishes Franky ordered us.  
“Do you want to watch something else? It’s only 9.30pm” I asked Franky, almost certain she would want to watch the next instalment of ‘Fast & Furious’.  
“Actually, I have a better idea.” Franky says to me with that smirk I’ve come to know so well.  
“Ugh, Franky, I’m sorry babe but I’m really not in the mood, I just feel so uncomfortable right now, maybe in a few days I’ll feel up for it.” I smile apologetically at my wife; we haven’t had sex since before my hospital visit – two weeks is a very long ’dry spell’ for us.  
“No honey, that’s not what I had in mind – and yes I do know that must be surprising to hear!”  
“Right, so what exactly do you have in mind then?”  
“Well, I thought, how about we try and come up with some names for our kid? We could each come up with a few boy and girl names, just to see what we both like.”  
“Oh, I like that idea. I haven’t really been thinking of names yet though, have you?” My wife gives me a shy nod that confirms she has indeed been thinking of names.  
“Go on then Franky, what names do you like?” I say trying to encourage her to continue and tell me what they are.  
“Well I just have a few ideas – and don’t worry, they’re all normal, I haven’t got any crazy ideas, well yet anyway.”  
“Right well tell me then, I’m dying to know now!”  
“Okay, well for a girl, so far I’ve thought of Olivia, Sophia and Sasha – what do you think of those?”  
“They’re pretty names, yes I like all of them actually, I think the process of deciding will be very hard Franky.”  
“I know Gidge, whatever we pick this kid will be stuck with for life – so we need to make it good!”  
“Indeed we do, what about boy names then?”  
“Okay, I have three boy names as well, Nathan, Jacob and Alexander – I like the thought of quite classic, but strong names, you know what I mean?”  
“Totally, I love those names baby, and they would all sound really good with our surname, do you think we should give Peanut a middle name – I mean it is already a bit of a mouth full with our hyphenated surname but at least them we could pick two names and wouldn’t need to settle on one.”  
“Well, can we at least try to focus on a first name first before thinking if we are or aren’t going to use a middle name honey? My brain can only take so much.”  
“Yes, of course, okay I’ve thought of a few names as well now, for a girl how about Jessica, Kate or Eva?”  
“Oh I like all of them too! Damnit this is going to be impossible, Gidge!”  
“I’m sure we’ll manage, everyone else gets there eventually.”  
“What about your boy names?”  
“Well I like Leonardo – Leo for short, Ethan and Lucas.”  
“Hmm yeah, I’m not too keen on Ethan but I like the other two, I think it’ll be a case of we’ll know when we see him or her.” Franky says while giving my bump a rub with her hand.  
“I know, I really can’t wait to see what Peanut looks like, I am so hoping for a mini Franky.”  
“Well I’m hoping for the perfect combination of us both.”  
“That would be nice as well, I think considering the donor we used that is a strong possibility.” I smile thinking of how much I want the next 10-12 weeks to hurry up s I can hold the baby currently growing inside me, in my arms for the first time. As if sensing my thoughts, Franky turns and looks me in the eye.  
“The time will fly bye honey, nursery furniture is being delivered in two weeks, so that gives me like 10 weeks to figure out how to put it together - hopefully that’s long enough!” Franky playfully nudges me on the shoulder and laughs.  
“God Franky don’t even joke, you know my feelings about that, I still think we should just have paid for them to assemble it upon delivery.”  
“Stop your worrying Gidge! Anyway, the guys said they’d give me a hand with it all, even Marcus said he’s only a phone call away – and he’s done it plenty of times! It’ll be all good, you can count on us, no need to worry!”  
“I’m not worrying, I know you’ll make it perfect because it’s for little Peanut – and it’s nothing but the best for baby Westfall-Doyle.”

Chp28

Bridget’s birthday is fast approaching and for once I have no idea what I’m going to get her. It can’t be her usual favourite bottle of wine – I mean, she is 30 weeks pregnant and I don’t want to piss her off. Her birthday is in four days, on 6th September. I have toyed with the idea of taking her to a car showroom tomorrow so we can look at getting a bigger car for the baby’s arrival – but that’s not a very personal gift when it’s something we were going to do anyway. I’ll probably get her jewellery, that can never really go wrong, but we still really should go look at cars, that has been put off for far too long now.  
The next afternoon Bridget and I set off in the Porsche to look for a more practical car that will better suit our impeding arrival.  
“What type of car are we going to be looking for Franky? Is there anything in particular you have in mind?”  
“Well I want something safe – I think that’s a given. Of course something that’s reliable as well and will hold all of Peanuts things, I’m leaning towards and SUV as I think they are built the sturdiest and wouldn’t worry about you or the baby travelling in one. What do you think?”  
“I agree with you – safety has to be top priority; it also has so look nice though – I don’t want to drive around in an ugly car.” I need to laugh at my wife’s comment, of course that would be high up on her agenda.  
“Of course not babe – we’ll make sure it’s a nice, pretty car.”  
I pull up to the carpark finding a space right at the entrance to the showroom.  
“Hi ladies and welcome, is there anything I can assist you with today?” Ugh, I hate when sales people are just too happy – nothing more annoying!  
“Hi there, my wife and I are looking to get a new car, one that will be family-friendly, we actually have a two-seater Porsche as our main car currently.”  
“Oh, yes well I can see how that will no longer be suitable.” He says gesturing towards Bridget’s belly.  
“Yes, my wife here is due in about 10 weeks so we want to make sure we are prepared, we are thinking of getting an SUV, as we are aware we will need a lot of space to fit everything in!”  
“That would be a good choice, we have a range of different manufacturers here, so if you want to have a look over there, you will find all of our SUV’s.” The salesman smiles and points towards a small cluster of large vehicles.  
“Okay thanks, we’ll have a look and call you if we see anything we like the look of.” I put my hand on Bridget’s lower back and guide us over to the group of SUV’s.  
“These all seem really big Franky – I’ve never driven anything this size before, might take a while to get used to.”  
“Well would you be comfortable behind the wheel of something this big? I was going to suggest an automatic then that’s one less thing to think about while driving, means you can just focus on steering.”  
“I was thinking the same actually, it will probably help me get used to it quicker as well.”  
“Okay, that’s settled then, how about this BMW X5, it certainly looks safe, doesn’t look too bad and the entertainment packages seem good, has SATNAV and hands-free as standard.” I mean, it’s not the nicest looking car but it’s far from awful.  
“I don’t know Franky, I don’t really like the shape of it if I’m being honest, how about this Audi Q7, I much prefer the look of it and it’s got all the same features, if not slightly more.”  
“Gidge, I meant to ask this earlier before we arrived but what sort of budget are we setting for this car? I’m willing to spend whatever if I’m being honest, I want the best and it’s not like we don’t have the money. I just got that $25,000 bonus last month after closing that huge case.”  
“Hmm, I was thinking around $115,000 max? if we need to we could trade in the Porsche I guess.”  
“Not happening Gidge, you love that car so much, and I love it too, it holds far too many memories for us to get rid of okay?”  
“Oh thank god, I really don’t think I could part with it!” We share a laugh and are both relieved that selling the Porsche is not going to be an option.  
“Oh, look we never looked at this one Mercedes GLE 400, drive away today price $109,500. It has everything, oh look heads-up display, I’ve always wanted a car with that!”  
“Do you want to take it out for a test drive the?” I nod at Bridget and we go to find the salesman.  
An hour later we are back in the showroom after thoroughly testing the car.  
“Well Franky, I really like it, I think it’s a good price for everything included and another good thing about it is there’s no waiting, the car we tested will be the one we get.” A bright smile forms on Bridget’s face, I think it’s safe to say she has fallen in love with this car.  
“I think it’s the one for us babe, and I like the Palladium silver colour and the fact it has black leather interior and not cream like some of the others is definitely a blessing!” I can imagine sticky fingers roaming everywhere so black will be good to have in this case.  
“You’re right, it’s a very nice car, so I think we’ll take this one the please. Franky do you want to drive it home and I’ll take the Porsche?”  
“Sounds good babe, let’s get the payments all set up and we’ll be good to go.”  
It is 7.30am on Tuesday 6th September – Bridget’s 44th birthday, we both need to be at work for 9am so I have made breakfast in bed for my wife, which we are both currently enjoying.  
“This is absolutely wonderful baby, thank you so much – I wish we didn’t need to go to work today so we could just spend the day laying around.”  
“Tell me about it, I would love nothing more, that reminds me actually, when are you planning on starting your maternity leave?”  
“Well I think I’ll keep going until I get too uncomfortable to be on my feet for too long, I’d rather save as much time as possible for when Peanut arrives.”  
“Fair enough, just listen to your body though – don’t push yourself too hard. I mean you are already getting six months paid leave and it’s not like we’re desperate for the money, you could quite happily take the whole year.”  
“I know, I’ll wait and see – I don’t want this to sound bad, but I’m worried I’ll get bored if I take the whole year like I had initially planned, I mean you know how much I love my job, so maybe I’ll go back, even if it’s just part time after the initial six months, if for nothing more than to keep me sane!”  
“You make a valid point, I’m sure your parents would absolutely love to look after Peanut a few times a week if we needed them to.”  
“You’re right, they are just so excited but it’s understandable – after all it is their first grandchild. They were probably never in a million years expecting me to give them one!”  
“Yup, I think everyone is still shocked. Anyway enough of that talk, I have your birthday gift.” I hand Bridget a long, slim rectangular box, wrapped neatly with a small bow on top.  
“Well, go on then, open it!” I say as Bridget just stares at her hands.  
“Okay, okay!” She unfolds the wrapping paper carefully – the total opposite of how I unwrap gifts. She finally opens up the lid and I hear a small gasp as she peers into the box.  
“Oh wow Franky, this is so beautiful!” She takes the item out of the jewellery box and holds it in her hands.  
“Put it on for me please.” I do as I’m told and take the bracelet from her fingers and place it securely around her wrist.  
“Okay, so you see these stones that are on it? Those are birthstones, so I got a Sapphire for you, the Amethyst is February for me, and lastly the Citrine is for Peanut, so you better come in November now baby, not early okay?” I say poking Bridget’s stomach with a light chuckle.  
“It’s wonderful Franky, I love the other little charms as well, the love heart is cute, and there’s space for me to add more, it’s the perfect gift.” Bridget kisses me passionately on the lips before pulling away.  
“Well love, as much as I don’t want to, we need to get ready for work or we’ll be late – come on, get up and ready…I’ll thank you properly when we get home tonight” I grunt as I throw my legs onto the floor and stand up to head to the bathroom, ‘it’s going to be a long day’ I think. 

Chp29

The furniture for the nursery arrived yesterday, there seems to be a lot of components to put together and I like to believe my wife when she says it’ll be fine but after seeing all of the boxes piled up in the room awaiting assembly – I just can’t help but worry slightly. I mean, we have the crib, changing table, chest of drawers, wardrobe and rocking chair to build. I say ‘we’ but I really mean Franky and our friends as I don’t think I would be capable of building furniture currently – not that Franky would let me near it anyway.  
“Fuck! This stupid crib! How complicated can it be! It’s for a baby god damnit!” Uh oh, so far Franky, Greg and Will have been in the nursery for an hour and I’ve heard at least a dozen yells out of frustration – mostly from my wife. Amelia and Vera are keeping me company, Benjamin is with his grandparents so we’re having a nice after to ourselves.  
“Do you think we should go and check on them? That’s a lot of shouting and the constant banging of things doesn’t instil much hope either…” Vera says to us both, I have wanted to try and avoid going in to give the three of them space to work but maybe she’s right – it sounds more like destruction is taking place rather than assembly.  
“Hmm, maybe I’ll go and ask them if they want anything to eat or drink – they might take a short break.”  
“Good idea, you go ask, Vera and I will get you in the kitchen.”  
I walk towards the nursery and my eyes go wide as I see the state of the room, it looks like they’ve opened everything and there’s bits of furniture covering the entire floor. Franky must hear my arrival because she looks up at me in surprise.  
“Hey Gidget, watch your step babe, don’t want you tripping on anything.”  
“Franky” I try to say as calmly as possible.  
“Yes honey?”  
“Why have you decided it was a good idea to open everything at once? The whole lot is going to get mixed up now!”  
“Umm, well you see we started with the crib, but it was a lot harder than it looked to put together, so we opened the chest of drawers, but that was really difficult too, so then I suggested we try the rocking chair-” I put my hand up to stop her from saying anything further.  
“Yes, I see the pattern developing! You could have at least kept the parts separate!”  
“Don’t sweat, we know what we’re doing – we have a system.” I just raise my eyebrows at the three of them, not believing for one second that the mess I have walked in on was intentional.  
“I don’t want to hear anything else, just please make sure that this furniture gets put together properly please – this baby will be here soon and will need to place to sleep.”  
“I promise you we will have all of this done by the end of the day, right guys?” Greg and Will just nod their heads and mumble under their breath.  
“Good, I’m holding you to that. Anyway I actually came in to see if you wanted anything to drink or possibly a snack.”  
“Could we get some beer please Gidge, I know I’ve not been drinking these past few months, but Will brought a six pack for us, please?”  
“Yes of course Franky, anything else for you guys?” I look at each of them but they politely decline and stick with beer as well.  
“Okay, I’ll be right back, your other halves are waiting for me in the kitchen.”  
I make my way into the kitchen and walk straight to the fridge to get three beers.  
“So Bridget, how are they getting on then? Should we volunteer to help?” Vera asks me as I turn to them both.  
“It’s a mess, they’ve opened up all the boxes – now I don’t think they know what bit is for what piece of furniture! However, I have been told they have a ‘system’ in place – and basically to trust them, everything will be done by the end of the day.”  
“God, why am I not surprised? Well let’s just hope it gets done then, that baby will need somewhere to sleep!” Amelia says in an exasperated tone.  
“That’s exactly what I said!” I walk back to the nursery with beers in hand, give Franky a quick kiss then heads back to the Livingroom and wait for progress. 

FRANKY POV

It’s been four hours since Bridget has checked up on us, I’ve got to say I’m impressed she has managed to stay away for this long!  
“Right guys, finishing touches – I’ve put the mattress in the crib and made it up, put the cuddly toys in there too, the curtains are up, some clothes are in the dresser and the rug is down. I think Bridget will want to help me do the rest so she knows where things are stored.”  
“Good idea Franky, well let’s go get them then and show of our handiwork.” Will says, giving me a bump on the shoulder as he passes me.  
We step in to the Livingroom and find Vera and Amelia, both with a hand on Bridget’s stomach.  
“Oh Franky, the baby was kicking again, it’s the first time they’ve got to feel it.”  
“Cute, anyway hate to break up your little bonding time but we’re done. It’s just finishing touches now, and I think the both of us should do that so we know where things are.”  
“Yeah good idea, okay let’s go see it then, I can’t wait!”  
As Bridget steps into the nursery, she gasps and one hand flies to her mouth, the other to her chest.  
“Oh my God, this is beautiful! It’s better than I could have ever imagined!”  
She’s trying to take it all in, the crib up against the left wall, changing table next to it, the rocking chair on the rug in front of the window, wardrobe and chest of drawers placed on the opposite side of the room. The lemon walls and the white furniture really do complement each other – if I do say so myself.  
“Thank you, so much! It’s incredible- I love the colours and aww you made up the crib and put in the little blanket we bought.”  
“Yup, we just need to put the rest of the clothes away and add the supplies to the changing table and that’s us all set.” Bridget pulls me into a hug and gives me a quick peck on the lips, before going to hug Greg and Will to thank them as well.  
“See, told you we had a system.” I wink and give her my signature smirk and am rewarded with a slap on my arm. 

Chp30

I can’t believe how fast the weeks and months have flown bye, we are headed to a birthing class that we have attended for the past two weeks, I will admit it is very informative, however the video we watched at last week’s class has made me very adamant I will be staying up at Bridget’s face the entire time – beautiful experience my arse! Dr Cooper has said to me about cutting the cord once the baby has been delivered, and I’m totally up for doing that – I just don’t particularly want to see an ‘action shot’ so to speak. At 34 weeks Bridget has started to slow down a bit, she’s still working, but in two weeks’ time that’ll be her full term, but much to her dismay at our last appointment the Doc seems to think she’ll go closer to 40 weeks, lucky her! We are currently walking hand in hand, in the slightly warmer October air, we decided to walk to our class since it’s only 20 minutes away from home and Bridget insists she gets as much exercise as possible. 

“Franky! Hey, Franky Doyle, is that you?” I hear a woman’s voice call my name, somewhere to the left of where we are walking, the street is busy so I can’t see anyone, I stand slightly in front of Bridget – protectively, you never know who might recognise you from the past.  
“It is you! Long-time no see, what’s it been, like four years?” Oh my god, this can’t be happening – why of all people did I need to run into her, I haven’t even though about her in so long, and seeing her now – wow, well there’s no denying she still looks fantastic, she’s not changed at all. A small smile plays on my lips as she reaches my side, Bridget still hidden behind my body.  
“Wow, Erica, what a surprise!”  
“Franky, well I never thought I’d see you again! Nice to see you on the outside I must say.” Erica says with a smile and tries to pull me into a hug, that’s when she realises my hand is firmly clasped in someone else’s. The hug then ends abruptly, and I step aside slightly bring Bridget into view. Erica’s eyes go wide at that point, but I can tell she will be even more shocked when I introduce them.  
“Ah, that’s right you two never did meet, missed each other by a few weeks I think. Erica Davidson, this is my wife Bridget, and Bridget this is Erica, she was Governor at Wentworth for a while before you arrived.” Yup, Erica is shocked I have a wife, can’t say her reaction is a surprise, most people do find it hard to believe.  
“Hi Bridget, it’s lovely to meet you – wow so you both met in prison then?”  
“No, well technically yes, but Bridget here was the Psychologist at Wentworth after you left, which if I remember correctly was rather abruptly.” I stare at Erica, she really hurt me back then by leaving without saying a word.  
“Oh, that’s nice that you two met then. Yes I know I left rather suddenly, I was reassigned and ordered off campus immediately, they didn’t even let me clear my office, I had no choice but to leave without saying goodbye Franky! I never wanted to hurt you – believe me – that’s the last thing I ever wanted.”  
“No sweat Erica, it’s all in the past now, there’s no hard feelings on my part.” I move my hand that’s not holding Bridget’s so that it is placed over her belly, I rub my palm in little circles, feeling the baby starting to kick – this helps to calm me down a bit and not get angry.  
“Oh – I never noticed before, umm I guess congratulations to the two of you as well then.” Erica says, her eyes practically bulging out of her head as she looks where my hand is rested.  
“Thanks, only a few more weeks to go until Peanut will be with us.” I smile proudly down at Bridget’s stomach as she talks to Erica.  
“What about you Erica, how’s the fiancé? Or is it husband now, any kids?” She just looks at me with an unreadable expression before dropping her head and shaking it slightly.  
“I see you never did get the letters I sent you then? Mark left me after I told him we kissed in my office – and no, nothing serious since, definitely no children.” I can feel Bridget looking at me from the corner of my eye, I had told her about an old Governor I had really liked but she was getting married and not a lesbian so didn’t take things further than a kiss.  
“He left you after that one, stupid kiss I gave you in your office? Shit, but you don’t even like chicks.” I look at her in disbelief – I wouldn’t have expected that to happen.  
“That’s the problem, I never had – not until you I guess, if you got my letters you would know I left him and was wanting to meet up with you once you got out, but obviously that never happened.”  
“Umm, wow I’m sorry Erica, I never meant to break up your engagement – but you really broke off a five-year relationship after one kiss?” I’m starting to feel a bit guilty, had I ruined her life? If I’d known that would happen I would never have done it in the first place.  
“No Franky, that just gave me the final push Ito end things, I hadn’t been happy in a while, you just helped open my eyes. Standing here right now though, you actually have no idea how glad I am you never got my letters – I really am so very happy for you two, and Franky Doyle a mother, well I never! You will be a wonderful mother though, the way you took care of the younger girls at Wentworth, I have no doubt.” I literally have tears in my eyes now and so does Erica, I’m surprised how well this first encounter on the outside has gone.  
“You have no idea how much those words mean to me Erica, I can honestly say I am the happiest I have ever been, and it’s all thanks to my beautiful wife.” I turn my head to the side and give Bridget a quick peck on the cheek as she smiles.  
“No problem Franky, you deserve happiness – it would be lovely to keep in contact, maybe meet you both for coffee after the baby gets here or something.”  
“I think that would be a great idea Erica, this is our home number, give us a call and Franky and I can arrange to meet you or something them.” This is why I love my wife, even after she knows I’ve had my tongue down this woman’s throat, she knows the love I have for her and our child surpasses anything else and I wouldn’t look twice at Erica now.  
“Thank you Bridget, I’ll look forward to seeing you both again soon, well I better let you go, and if I don’t talk to you before-hand, best of luck with the baby, I hope everything goes smoothly for you both.”  
“Thanks Erica, much appreciated. We’ll see you around.” I say as Bridget and I start to walk away. Well I wasn’t expecting that when I left the house today.  
“You okay Gidge? That must have been a bit weird.”  
“Of course I’m fine – I mean come on Franky the two of you kissed over four years ago, before you even knew who I was, I can hardly be mad at you.”  
“That’s good to know, baby. She did actually help me with a lot back then, it would be kinda nice to see her as a friend every now and then.”  
“Anything you want to do it fine with me Franky, we can at least meet for coffee with her once the baby arrives and see how it goes.”  
“I like the idea of that, anyway let’s get to our class, we’re running late now!”

Chp31

The house is buzzing with activity as Bridget’s baby shower is in full swing, we decided to invite both of Bridget’s parents, our friends and some colleagues, not bothering to stick with the ‘women only’ tradition, as most of our closest friends are couples. The baby really could come at any point now as Bridget is classified as full term. Last week we packed our hospital bag and placed it at the foot of our bed, making sure it is on hand for when the time comes. At our Doctor’s appointment yesterday everything looked really good, however the baby is still quite high up and Dr Cooper doesn’t think they will be gracing us with their presence any time soon. One thing that was mentioned to us though was that we should start to do something called a kick count, I’d never heard of it before but basically once we’re in bed each night, we need to set a stopwatch and see how long it takes for the baby to make ten movements, it’s just so we know that nothing is wrong, and if these movements take longer than a few hours or we don’t feel the baby as much then we should head to the hospital just to be safe. I just want Peanut to be out already, I want him or her to be here with us now. Having said that, it really doesn’t feel like over ten months since we had the conversation about expanding our family that night at the beach on out first wedding anniversary. It’s very overwhelming at times when I think just how much things are about to change – for the better of course – in just a matter of weeks, we’ll finally have everything we’ve always wanted. I wouldn’t have it any other way.  
“Hi darling, are you having fun?” I am taken out of my thoughts as my very pregnant wife walks (or should that be waddles?) up to me.  
“Hi babe, yeah I am, it’s a good party, although Amelia is setting up games – you know how much I can’t stand games, maybe we can skip that part and open presents?” I say with a very hopeful expression, praying that Bridget will agree with me.  
“I’m sure they will be fine, let’s just play one or two to keep her happy, after all she did plan this whole baby shower. Also, have you seen the amount of gifts there are – Franky I’m seriously worried we have no room for them all!” Yup, Bridget’s voice is very serious as she says this, has my wife really forgotten just how large our house is? We have a double garage and everything!  
“Umm Gidge, we have all that space in the garage, your Porsche is only taking up half of it, any items we don’t need right now I’ll but in there. Is this you getting that ‘pregnancy brain’ I’ve been warned about? I must say if that is the case thank god you go on maternity leave in two days’ time, god only knows what you’re teaching the students!” Uh, oh I really should know better by now not to piss her off, she hasn’t really been taking my jokes well recently. So it should be no surprise when she slaps me hard on my arm – I swear this baby has given her super-human strength!  
“Shut up Franky, you think you’re so funny, but you’re not!” Yup, time to keep my mouth shut ‘don’t poke the bear, don’t poke the bear’ I keep repeating in my head as I stare at her.  
“No I’m not funny, and I’m really sorry – I shouldn’t have said that.” I wrap my arms around her for a hug, or at least as close as I can get for one, Peanut’s home has been making that task rather difficult lately.  
“I can’t wait to feel you close to me again Franky, when we hug like this you seem so far away.”  
“I know, but just think soon we’ll be hugging like this with our little baby sandwiched between us, only they’ll be on the outside.”  
“Hmm that will be nice.”  
“Game time!” Amelia yells from the other room.  
“Where did the mummies go off to? Come on today is all about Bridget, Franky and their little one.” I hear Vera add in. ‘The sooner it’s over the better’ I think as we go toward the group.  
Once in the Livingroom we are greeted by a much too excited Amelia.  
“Jesus, clam down – what the hell do you have planned? I can already tell I’m not going to like it one bit!”  
“Finally nice of you both to join us! So I have a few different games – don’t worry they’re not too bad!”  
“I’m warning you Amelia” I say in half joking, well maybe slightly more threatening.  
“Okay…anyway first game we are going to play is ‘Guess the Baby’ everyone has brought a photo of themselves as a baby, I’ve taken the liberty of putting them all up there on the wall, basically whoever matches the most photos to names is who wins!”  
“Well now doesn’t that just sound like a bundle of fun, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited for a game! God, I just can’t wait to see what we play after this!” I whisper in to Bridget’s ear in possibly the most sarcastic voice I can manage, my wife however just tells me to suck it up and play nice. Ugh.  
Thirty minutes later and the game is over.  
“In your face everyone! Ha!”  
“So much for not wanting to play any stupid games Franky – bit competitive aren’t we?”  
“Just because you didn’t even place in the top three Vera, someone is just jealous!”  
“Now come on Franky be nice, I didn’t think we’d bring this side out of you – maybe just one more game after all!”  
“What? No, I was just starting to have fun! I want to play everything Amelia!” I protest.  
“Oh come on Franky, quit the whining, you heard Amelia – one more game. I’m seriously starting to think when this baby is born I’ll be a mother of two and not one!”  
“Ha, ha very funny Gidge, I just got excited, I was really good at that game!” I pout at her, so she reaches up to quickly kiss my lips into a smile as we await Amelia’s instructions for the next game.  
“Don’t worry Franky, this is a good one! Right, so I’m going to pass around this ball of string and scissors, each person will cut the string at a length they think will fit around Bridget’s stomach, the person who gets closest wins! Is that okay with you Bridget?”  
“Yeah that’s fine with me, god not sure I want to see just how huge I am – maybe I’ll keep my eyes shut!” I laugh, poor Bridget, but she’s being such a good sport about this game, not sure I would be if I was in her position!  
“Yes! Champion again! In your face losers! Shit, I am good at these games!” I know that I’m being extremely annoying and very smug but I don’t care because I won – again.  
“Well darling I should hope you would win that game since you see it every day! Just please try and be a bit humbler, I do still want to be able to call our guests friends after they leave.”  
“Just proves I actually pay attention to your body” I wink at my wife and just ignore her last comment, as we move to sit down on the sofa.  
“Presents! Amelia exclaims as she points to the coffee table in front of us covered in brightly wrapped presents of all different shapes and sizes.  
We get to work opening each gift – overcome with the generosity of everyone. The amount of stuff we get is crazy – a tummy time play mat, baby bouncer, Baby Bjorn carrier, Moses basket, onesies – in all different sizes, little booties, hats and mittens. As well as nappies, bottles, bibs and other essentials. It is truly incredible that all of this has been brought for our baby.  
“I…I, umm wow, thank you so much everyone – this is very overwhelming, all of this stuff is amazing – and far too much, but just thank you, I don’t know what else to say really, Bridget?” I look at my wife hoping she might come across slightly more literate than me.  
“All I can really say is the same as Franky, thank you so much – it is clear how much love this baby is going to have from you all, and they’re not even born yet – so yes, thanks so much, we hadn’t even thought of most of these items – they will all definitely be put to good use.”  
After another hour, the shower is over and everyone has gone home, except for Amelia and Greg, they volunteered to help me clean up, I sent Bridget to relax on the sofa while we make sure everything is put back to normal. I walk Amelia and Greg to the door once we’re done, thank them and then go and join my wife on the couch.  
“Well that’s everything cleaned up, I’ve put the gifts away – I never even had to use the garage.”  
“That’s good honey, what time is it?” Bridget asks while letting out a yawn, I look over my shoulder to check the clock on the wall.  
“It’s just after 9pm, you want to head to bed?”  
“Yes, remember we said we would start to record the kicks tonight, I have no clue how long it could take to get ten movements so the sooner we get started the better.”  
Thirty minutes later we are in bed, Bridget laying slightly on her left to take some of the pressure off her back, her stomach exposed as I grab my phone to use as a stopwatch to see how long the movements take to happen, we both have our hands on the bump, waiting.  
“Oh Franky, I see you brought the Moses basket through to our room.”  
“Yeah, well I’ve been thinking maybe for the first few weeks it would be better if the baby was nearer us – oh kick number one, as I was saying, being nearer us will make feeding and changing easier during the night, plus it means we can check on them easier too.” Another three kicks happen in quick succession.  
“I agree actually, I’d never thought about getting one before today, but must say it seems like a great idea for when the baby is so little.” Eight movements now, the last one I swear felt like a flip or something.  
“Good we agree the, I must say I hope Peanut does their kicks like this every night – 15 minutes and that’s the ninth kick. Come on baby just one more – then your mummies can get some sleep!” I tap Bridget’s belly with my fingers and that’s when I see what actually looks like the shape of a foot poke out.  
“Holy shit! Gidge did you see that? Is that normal? I like seen toes, oh my god!”  
“Franky calm down, the baby probably just has less room to move around now, that’s why the detail is clearer, or something like that – it’s fine.”  
“That was so cool, oh well that’s us finished counting. 17 minutes for ten movements, that seems pretty good to me.” I give Bridget a smile before leaning down to kiss her belly a few times.  
“Goodnight baby.” I then pull my wife’s oversized t-shirt down to cover her stomach and lean up to her lips, giving them a gentle kiss, before turning the lamp off that is on my side of the bed.  
“Goodnight Franky, I love you so much.”  
“Night, night Bridget, I love you too, sleep well.”

Chp32

“Another Doctor’s appointment Franky, I really hope it’s good news this time, I don’t know how much more I can take, it’s starting to hurt and I just can’t get comfortable at all.” I cry into Franky’s shoulder as she holds me tight, I am 39 weeks pregnant and we are here yet again to see Dr Cooper, last week I had made no progress at all, the baby’s head wasn’t even engaged for god’s sake!  
“Honey, I’m sure we’ll see some improvement this week, you even said yourself you think the baby has dropped down and when I feel the bottom of your bump I think so too, it’s definitely lower than last week anyway – I’m sure of it.”  
“I hope you’re right, I really to, Dr Cooper will be in soon, I better get up on the table, do you mind giving me a hand?”  
“Not at all Gidge, let me just hold your arm and round your waist – there we go, you comfy enough in that position? Franky can be so sweet and attentive, always making sure I’m in as much comfort as possible.  
“Yeah this will be fine, thanks darling.” Just then Dr Cooper comes in and says she will have a feel of my stomach, then will check to see if I’m dilated at all. I have all my fingers crossed that there is a change.  
“Okay Bridget, well I can feel that baby’s head is much further down in your pelvis than it was last week, I could move the head from side to side then quite easily but no there’s no moving it at all today, very good sign! Now I’ll do the internal exam and see if there’s any progress.” I put my legs in the stirrups as Dr Cooper has a good poke around at my cervix, not one of the most pleasurable experiences I’ve had.  
“Oh well this is exciting ladies! Bridget you’re at 2cm, so I would say it will almost definitely be this week you get to meet your baby.” I’m in shock, this is definitely the news I wanted to hear, I mean the baby can’t stay in there forever, however I also can’t help this slight fear that Franky and I are going to be fully responsible for a tiny human in probably a matter of days.  
“Oh that’s great! Isn’t it honey? So exciting.” Franky clearly doesn’t share my apprehension, mind you, she has been more or less ready for this since day one.  
“It is Franky, it really is – I just can’t quite believe it is so close now – I’ll admit I’m a bit scared, but mostly excited.” After what happened with Benjamin that night we have kept our promise and been more open with each other about feelings, especially any worries.  
“It’ll all be worth it baby.” Franky smiles and kisses my temple.  
When we get home later that night, I am exhausted, everything is really starting to catch up with me now, having said that my official due date is on Saturday so only two days away. Since I’m so tired we decide to just have a quick dinner then head to bed for an early night.  
I wake up to a sharp pain travelling from my back to down low in my stomach. ‘Well shit that was painful’ I think as I roll over the best I can to check the time, 4.30am, still too early. Franky is asleep next to me and will need to be up for work in a few hours, I try not to wake her up, but I really need to go use the bathroom.  
“Gidge, you okay? What time is it?” Franky asks me sleepily, with her eyes still closed.  
“I’ okay Franky, just going to use the bathroom, go back to sleep sweetie.” My wife doesn’t need to be told twice, she rolls over onto her left side and is out completely again in seconds.  
I make it to the bathroom and back without any more pains, it’s now 4.45am and I highly doubt I’m going to be able to get comfortable enough to sleep in bed. So I make the decision to go to the nursery, where I sit in the rocking chair. After a few minutes I get another pain, exactly like the one before. If this is labour, I clearly have a while to go, as the pains are more than 25 minutes apart. At the classes Franky and I attended, they advised it’s best not to go to the hospital before contractions are 10 minutes apart, or your water breaks, as there will be a lot of waiting around and most people prefer to do that in the comfort of their home.  
“Gidge, you alright? I woke up at you weren’t next to me.” Hmm I must have feel asleep sitting here.  
“I had a few pains in the middle of the night and this position was the only comfy one I could get into – I must have fallen asleep.”  
“Aww babe you should have woken me up, are you still having them now?” Am I? I’m not even sure, if I had any when I was sleeping I never felt it.  
“I don’t know Franky, I don’t think so, they were almost half an hour apart last night, what’s the time?”  
“It’s almost 8.30, I need to leave for work soon, unless you need me here, I can just give Marcus a phone and say I won’t be in.”  
“Thanks darling, but I’m sure it’s going to be a while before anything significant happens, if they get any closer, I’ll let you know okay? You should go in today though, don’t want to wasting any days off you could take once the baby arrives.”  
“Okay, I’ll go to work but if anything happens at all you need to phone me – got it? Do you want me to call your parents to come sit with you just in case?”  
“I’ll be fine, I promise to phone or text at least once an hour with a progress update okay, now go or you’ll be late.” Franky kneels down between my legs, lifts up my nightshirt and kisses my huge belly.  
“Now listen to me kid, try not to give your mummy too much hassle okay? I’ll be back before you know it Peanut.” I pull her up to my lips and kiss her before promising again to update her, before she finally leaves.  
FRANKY POV  
I arrive at work on-time, however right now this is the last place I want to be, it’s Friday 14th November, so Bridget is technically due tomorrow and if she’s been experiencing pain then that makes me think by tomorrow or Sunday the baby could be here. I have a meeting in ten minutes but first I need to find Marcus and explain the situation.  
“Hey boss, you got a minute?” I ask as I stand at the entrance to his office.  
“Morning Franky, sure come in and take a seat.” I sit down across the desk from Marcus before I continue.  
“I just wanted to let you know that I think Bridget might be in the early stages of labour – she insisted I come in today though, you know what she can be like!”  
“Oh wow that’s exciting, well my wife was in labour 28 hours with our first, it can be a long process, having said that, go home and be with your wife Franky, it’s not every day she goes in to labour. She might not realise it right now but she needs you, or at least she will very soon.”  
“Are you sure Marcus? We’re supposed to have that Partner meeting in less than five minutes.”  
“I insist, you need to be there, I’ll notify everyone at the meeting what’s going on.” ‘I really have such a great and understanding boss’ I think to myself.  
“Thank you so much Marcus, I definitely owe you one!”  
“Good luck Franky, give Bridget our best, and let me know when your little one arrives!”  
“Will do Marcus, thanks again, bye!” I run out of the office, grab my stuff from my desk and set off on my way home.  
Twenty minutes later I walk through the front door and call out to Bridget.  
“In the Livingroom!” I hear being called back in a voice that seems strained. I walk in to find my wife on all fours, swaying side to side.  
“Hey baby, how are you?”  
“Contraction Franky, ow shit – it’s almost over. You’re here?” Crap, now I need to think back to the classes, what is it the ‘supportive partner’ does again?  
“Marcus sent me home when I told him – how far apart are they now sweetie?”  
“They seem to be coming closer now, about every 13 minutes and they last for roughly 45 seconds.”  
“Shit that’s progressed quick! When do you think we should go to the hospital?” I can hear my own voice is getting slightly panicked, mostly because I hate to see Bridget in any pain.  
“I think when either they’re ten minutes apart or my water breaks – whatever happens first.” Okay, seems reasonable I guess.  
“Okay…anything I should be doing right now?”  
“Just make sure you time them Franky, then we’ll know when to leave, okay?”  
“I can do that! I love you Bridget, you’re doing great so far.”  
“Love you too, Franky.”

Chp33

Two hours have passed and I’m really starting to think we should be heading to the hospital.  
“Right, Gidge – that’s ten minutes apart, I think we should go now, I mean, I’ve done a lot of crazy shit in my time but delivering a baby – not one of them.” ‘Thank god’ I think to myself.  
“Okay Franky, they’re lasting longer as well so I think that’s a good idea. Phone Dr Cooper, let her know we’re on our way and grab the bag from the nursery.”  
I rush to the nursery to fetch the bag, but can’t help myself when I look around the room – I start to feel quiet emotional when I think the next time I stand in here will be with either my son or daughter. However, my daydreaming is cut short and I snap back to attention when I hear Bridget scream for me.  
“Franky! My water just broke! Hurry please.” Oh shit, definitely the hospital now, thank God I listened to Marcus and came home when I did.  
BRIDGET POV  
I have just been admitted to the hospital and we’re waiting for Dr Cooper to come and check on my progress.  
“Hi mummies! How is it going in here then?” She is far too cheery for me right now.  
I’ve been better, you need to give me some good news, please tell me this will be over soon!” I literally plead with Dr Cooper.  
“Well no promises, let me check you and see how you are doing.” I look to Franky, it’s clear she’s nervous about all this as well, but at least she’s not the one who’s pushing out a small person.  
“Wow, okay Bridget, you’re already at 8cm, this little one is clearly very keen to meet you both.” Well this seems to be going fast, its only 12.30, that means that very first pain during the night was only eight hours ago.  
“How long before we get to the pushing stage then Doc?” Franky asks, straight to the point as usual.  
“In my experience, I would say no longer than an hour or two on average, you’re making progress very fast for your first child Bridget.”  
“Oww Franky, another one!” I reach and grab Franky’s hand tight as another contraction takes over my body.  
“Just breathe baby, you’re doing so good.”  
“It hurts so much – however said no drugs was a good idea, is a fucking idiot!”  
“Do you want pain relief now honey?”  
“No, it’s okay I’ve come this far, I’ll deal with it.”  
Another hour passes, Dr Cooper has just checked me and announced that I’m at 10cm so can start to push.  
“Come on Gidge, you can do it, push down. That’s it, just like that.” I’m using Franky’s hand to squeeze – I might break it I’m crushing it so hard. She has my leg held up to my chest and a nurse holds the other as I continue to push.  
“I can’t do it Franky, it’s too much – I’m so tired.”  
“You can do it baby, come on – a few more big pushes and Peanut will be here.” As another contraction hits, I push again.  
“Okay Bridget, nice and easy, baby’s head is coming, looks like we have some hair!” That gives me a bit of encouragement to keep going, and I give it all I can.  
“Okay, head is out, on the next contraction, I’ll deliver the shoulders then that will be the worst over with, okay?” I nod as I wait for the next one to come.  
“I love you Bridget, so much.” Franky is crying now and so am I.  
“Love you tooo-ahh” Another contraction hits as I speak.  
“That’s it Bridget, bear down, another big push and baby will be here.” I push down with everything I have, and then we hear it. I turn to look at Franky, who’s staring right at me.  
“You did it Gidge, you did it! I’m so proud of you!”  
“Franky, do you want to cut the umbilical cord? Then you can show this baby’s other mummy if they’re a boy or girl.”  
“Sure, show me where to cut Doc.” Franky cuts the cord then looks up at me. She picks the tiny baby up into her arms.  
“Bridget, I’d like you to meet our daughter. Oh god we have a baby girl!”  
“Franky she’s perfect! A girl, I’m so happy!” Franky places the little girl on my chest and sits down beside me as we meet our daughter for the first time.  
“Ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes, looks at her little face Gidge, she’s just the cutest baby ever.”  
“She is Franky, she’s beautiful – and all ours.” I beam from ear to ear as the tears continue to fall freely from Franky.  
“Right mummies, we’re going to take baby Westfall-Doyle for a few minutes, do a little check-up, measure her and give her a clean okay?”  
“I don’t want to let her go – Franky go over there with her so one of her mummies is with her, please.”  
“Okay I will, love you.”  
“I love you too, now go over there and be with our daughter.”

Chp34  
It has been six hours since my amazing wife gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl in the world. She is perfect, 19inches long and 7lbs 7ounces. I’m currently holding my daughter – it’s going to take a while for that to sink in – as Bridget takes a well-deserved rest. The baby is making a few little noises as I stare into her eyes, they are bluish/green in colour, her little nose is like a button and she has dirty blonde hair, I know all of these features and colourings will probably change, but right now she definitely has a mix of both of us in her. I phoned Bridget’s parents to inform them they now have a granddaughter, they are absolutely over the moon and can’t wait to see Bridget and the baby, but they are respecting our wishes and giving us at least a day as a little family, just the three of us. All of our friends got a text with a photo of our daughter, they are delighted for us and also can’t wait to meet her.  
“Franky, come sit on the bed with me, I want to cuddle with both my girls.” I smile proudly at Bridget as I very carefully stand up and walk over to the bed, we manage to manoeuvre the baby into Bridget’s awaiting arms, then I slide into the bed and join them.  
“How are you feeling, beautiful?”  
“I feel fantastic; I mean yes I am sore but don’t care because we have a little girl Franky! And I couldn’t be happier.” I give Bridget’s forehead a kiss, as I watch her try to get the now fussy baby to latch on to her breast for a feed.  
“I know Gidge, I’ve never been more ecstatic than I am right now, oh I phoned and text everyone – they’re all delighted. If we’re still in here tomorrow your parents said they’d drop by for a visit, if not they will come visit at home like everyone else. I asked them not to come tonight, I just thought it should be just the three of us.”  
“Thank you darling, I agree, I’m far too tired for visitors anyway. It sounds so strange when you say ‘the three of us’ now.” I smile and nod at my wife.  
“Is she feeding okay? The nurse said it could take a while.”  
“She seems to actually be doing okay, but we will definitely need to bottle this milk as well, there’s no way I could do every three hours, especially during the night. It’s a weird sensation.”  
“Just as well I don’t expect you to do it on your own then, I want to be as hands on with her as possible. Oh looks, she’s starting to fall asleep.” I watch as her little mouth slowly loses its grip on Bridget’s nipple.  
“If only it is guaranteed to always be this easy!” Bridget chuckles.  
“I know, but maybe we’ll be lucky and have a good baby! Someone out there need to get one, might be us!”  
“What are the chances we have that kind of luck, huh?” I make a face at Bridget and then remember something else.  
“We need to think about her name Gidge, we can’t call her Peanut or baby girl forever.”  
“I know, but we do have time before we need to sign the birth certificate, it’s a big decision. Are any of the names we came up with still ones you think would suit her now that she’s here?” I have to cast my mind back a few months and think about the names we both suggested.  
“Well, I still like Olivia and Eva, but also Jessica, god even Sasha would suit her! I really don’t know babe, what about you?”  
“Yes, well I like all of them as well, why don’t we think for a few days, get to know her a bit better, we might even think of a new name entirely!”  
“Okay, that sounds like a plan then, let’s just try not to think of too many ideas, picking out of the few we already have is hard enough!”  
We sit in a comfortable silence, just watching our daughter sleep in Bridget’s arms, I never thought I would feel even close to the amount of love I have for my wife – but what I’m feeling right now is on a totally different scale, this is unconditional love – I know by looking down at my daughter I will love her no matter what for the rest of my life, she has totally captured my heart and opened up a whole new part of it I didn’t even know existed. 

Chp35

The next day we are discharged from the hospital and allowed to go home. Franky has just left me in the foyer while she brings the car around the front of the hospital. Our little girl is all snug in her car seat, wearing a cute white outfit we picked special for her coming home today. She looks so tiny in the car seat, I know Franky hasn’t said anything, but I can sense that she is very nervous about driving home with our precious new cargo on-board. I soon see the Mercedes stop in front of me and Franky hop out of the driver’s seat.  
“So, are my two girls ready to go home then?” She asks whilst shifting around nervously on her feet.  
“Yes we are, don’t look so worried honey – everything will be fine okay? She’s sleeping right now so hopefully we get home before she starts to get fussy.”  
“Right, umm okay, I’ll put the car seat in then, you sit in the back with her so she’s not alone.”  
“Of course, you okay putting her in Franky?”  
“Yeah, I’ve got it, you just get yourself settles next to her.” Well, I guess this will show if Franky paid any attention to Greg’s hour long car seat installation tutorial two weeks ago.  
“Franky, I think that bit needs to slide in first, did you hear the click? I don’t think there was a click, Greg definitely mentioned that.” I’m feeling anxious in case the car seat isn’t fitted properly and moves when Franky starts to drive.  
“I think I’ve got it, I slid it in like Greg showed us and when I try to move it around, it won’t budge so yeah I think we’re good to go. You know I wouldn’t have said that unless I’d triple checked it and was sure about it all babe.”  
“I know, okay I trust you with this, get in the driver’s seat then so we can take our baby girl home.”  
“Yes ma’am! We’ll be home before you know it!”  
‘Home before you know it’ hmm not so much, I don’t think my wife has ever driven a car slower and with more care, what would normally be a half hour journey has turned in to 50 minutes, thankfully we finally pull into our driveway. I get out of the car and walk around the other side to get the car seat.  
“You okay carrying her Gidge? Is that not a bit heavy right now?”  
“It’s fine darling, I’ve got her, you get the bags and we’ll meet you inside.” With that, I take the car seat and head into our home.  
“Oh wow Franky, did you do all of this?” I walk in to the Livingroom where there are banners, balloons, cards, flowers and teddy bears everywhere.  
“What are you talking about Gidge I’ve been with you-oh! Umm nope, wasn’t me, I’m thinking maybe your parents put that spare key we gave them to good use?” We both laugh as we look around taking everything in.  
“They really have out-done themselves with all of this – you think this is their way of saying they want a ‘Welcome home baby’ party?” Franky asks.  
“I’m beginning to think that could be the motive actually, maybe we should though, invite everyone to officially meet her.”  
“I think that would be nice, as long as you’re feeling up for it.”  
“I am; I really want to show off our gorgeous daughter to everyone we know!” Franky nods enthusiastically in agreement, then reaches down into the carrier to pick up our baby.  
“Hi little girl, what do you say huh? Want to meet your grandparents and all your aunts and uncles?” The baby makes a gurgling noise and grabs one of Franky’s fingers.  
“I think that’s a yes Franky, why don’t we phone and text everyone in a little while and ask if they can manage tomorrow night? I know they all can’t wait to meet her so we might as well do it soon.”  
“Okay that’s fine, here you take our daughter for a bit okay? I’m going to unpack all our stuff from the hospital and do some laundry.” I take the baby into my arms and sit down on the couch while Franky sorts all of our things out.  
The following evening arrives quickly, everyone we have invited is coming along, my parents, everyone who was at our dinner party when we announced I was pregnant, Marcus and his wife, a few more colleagues of mine from work who I’ve become more friendly with the last few months, and also that old friend of Franky’s from Wentworth we bumped into a few weeks ago – by coincidence she called us last night asking how we were and if we fancied meeting up soon, Franky explained that I’d just had the baby on Friday so we could get coffee in a week or two once I was up for it. She then told her about the gathering tonight and said she was welcome to come along, explaining Vera and Will would be attending – she accepted. I think no issues with Erica anyway, anything Franky and her shared is all far in the past now and like I said to Franky before she seems very nice and I think we could all be friends.  
“Franky, can you get the door please, I’m just changing her then I’ll be right out.”  
“Sure babe, I’ve got it.” I want to make sure our daughter is as happy as possible while meeting everyone, so I have fed and changed her, hoping that will keep her nice and content for a few hours. By the time I do actually get her all sorted and dressed, everyone has arrived, the house seems very full – I never realised we had so many friends!  
“Is that my granddaughter? Ooh let me see!” And so it begins…  
“Yes mum, meet our baby girls – who is currently still nameless, but we are working on that.” I gently place my daughter in to my mothers’ awaiting arms, she has tears in her eyes as she gazes at the little girl.  
“Oh my, she is absolutely adorable, look at her William, isn’t she the cutest?” My dad is stroking the baby’s cheek, also looking at her intently.  
“She really is, congratulations to the both of you, now Martha let me have a cuddle with my granddaughter please.” I go to stand next to Franky as we both watch the scene before us.  
“Well I think it’s safe to say my parents are already smitten with her.” I say as I lean my head against Franky’s shoulder.  
“I think they are Gidge, can’t say I blame them though, I mean who could resist that beautiful little face?” I smile at Franky before we decide to start mingling, and after much reluctance from my parents, the baby finally gets passed around so everyone can have a hold and be introduced.  
“Hey Vera, Will – glad you could both make it, have you actually seen the baby yet?” Franky asks as we walk over to them.  
“Hi guys, huge congrats, we seen a quick glimpse then she was gone – I don’t think your father wants to let her go Bridget.” Will says with a laugh.  
“Yes, I think he’s showing his protective side already, let me go and get her so you can be introduced properly.” I leave my wife and two guests and go to get our daughter. As I return with the baby I can hear Vera ask what Erica is doing here.  
“Well, Bridget and I bumped into her a few weeks ago, we gave her our number and she phoned yesterday asking if we wanted to get coffee, I said that would need to wait a week or two because the baby had just arrived, then I asked if she wanted to come tonight to meet her since we were having a get together. That’s it really.” I nod my head in agreement to what Franky has just said.  
“She seems to be hitting it off with that red head over there anyway, who is she?” I turn to see who Will be talking about, oh well I can’t say I’m surprised by who I see.  
“That’s my friend and colleague Maura, hmm they do seem to be getting on rather well, how interesting. Anyway, who wants a hold of her first?” Vera reaches her arms out so I place the baby in them, watching as her and Will coo and make a fuss over her. After five minutes or so they swap and Will is now holding her, she looks even more tiny in his well-muscled arms.  
“Hey everyone, wow I feel like I’m at some sort of Wentworth reunion stepping over here.” Erica states as she walks over to stand between Franky and Vera.  
“Ha, you’re right it is like that, how have you been Erica?” Will asks as my daughter starts to get fussy in his arms, without prompting, Franky reaches out and takes her, placing her on her own shoulder and rubbing soothing circles on her back. Erica is now just staring at Franky and the baby – having completely ignored Will’s question.  
“Wow, she looks just like you Franky.” Erica seems mesmerised by Franky holding the baby, she reaches out and brushes a finger over the top of her head.  
“She is so beautiful; I couldn’t be happier for the both of you.” Erica says to us with a genuine smile.  
“Would you like to hold her Erica? She seems to have settled down a bit now.” Erica’s eyes go wide at this; it appears she isn’t used to be around or holding babies.  
“Umm, sure yeah why not.” Franky carefully passes our daughter over to Erica.  
“There you go, just make sure you support her head, okay? That’s it, see you’re a natural!” Franky announces and smiles at Erica – who is far too busy staring down at the small bundle in her arms to notice.  
“I can’t believe I’m stood here holding Franky Doyle’s daughter, I can honestly say I never expected this.” Erica says, looking up to meet Franky’s eyes.  
“You and me both, never thought I’d be a mummy but here we are, how things change.”  
“Indeed, you’re very lucky Franky – beautiful wife, the most adorable little girl, loads of friends, great job and lovely home. I just have to say, I am very proud of how far you’ve come.”  
“Thank you, that really does mean a lot – I’m the luckiest woman in the world, and so very happy.” A few minutes pass with small talk and everyone having a general catch-up.  
“I see you hit it off with Maura then?” I ask Erica, who is still holding a now sleeping baby in her arms, subconsciously swaying from side to side.  
“Yes, she is very nice actually, we exchanged numbers and we’re going to get together for a drink soon.” ‘I knew it!’ I think to myself, she is so Maura’s type.  
“That’s nice, Maura is a lovely woman.”  
“She is; I look forward to seeing her again – guess we’ll just see how it goes.”  
Erica keeps a hold of the sleeping baby girl for quite some time, until she announces she has to leave. We make arrangements to meet in two weeks for a coffee so her and Franky can catch up some more.  
An hour later, at 9pm, all of our guests have now left and it is once again just the three of us.  
“Well tonight was nice, our daughter was very well behaved the whole time, I think everyone loves her.”  
“I think so too Franky, and she really did do so well, especially with all that passing around.”  
“Yeah, I think she likes her Moses basket Gidge, she was fast asleep again as soon as I put her down.”  
“Maybe she can sense we are both exhausted, I’ve heard that’s possible.”  
“Let’s hope so! It would be great if she always went to sleep that easily.”  
“I doubt she will Franky, but anything is possible. Anyway let’s get some sleep before she wakes up. Also, I want to revisit names in the next few days – she really needs one. I love you, goodnight.”  
“We’ll make sure we have one before she turns a week old then Gidge, I love you too, sleep well.”

Chp36  
Bridget and I are sat on the sofa; I’m holding our daughter – who will be one-week old tomorrow. We are yet again discussing names, it’s not a lack of idea’s that’s the issue, the problem is we like a few names and every time we think we’ve decided, we somehow manage to talk ourselves out of it.  
“Well, maybe if we went with a middle name that would help us, it would be official but it’s not like she would need to use it for everything.” Bridget says as I stare down at our baby, doing my best to think of the appropriate name for her.  
“Okay, so what would you suggest if we had a middle name then?” I ask my wife, feeling this will only further complicate matters.  
“I like Sophia for a middle name, it sounds nice and I also like it with our last names.”  
“Okay, well you know I love that name as well, what would you want for her first name if we chose that as the middle?”  
“I like either Eva or Olivia – both my favourites, you?”  
“Well, as you know before she was even born Olivia was my favourite, what do you think then? Olivia Sophia Westfall-Doyle.”  
“I really like that Franky, I think it sounds lovely and still keeps quite traditional names like we both wanted.”  
“I agree, so does this mean we have decided then? Is that what we’re definitely going to call her?” We both look down; as big blue eyes stare back up at us.  
“Yes, hello little Olivia Sophia, do you like your name?” Bridget tickles her belly and she squirms about, she kind of looks like she’s smiling, but right now at not even a week old that could be any expression.  
“Let’s just take that as a yes Gidge, we’ll get all the paperwork filled out then we can go and file it tomorrow, get little Olivia here her birth certificate.” I smile as I hand Olivia over to Bridget, who places her at her breast, ready for a feed.  
“Well, we’ll see next Friday when she has her two-week check-up if she’s put on any weight, I think she probably has a little. Oh and remember we said we’d meet Erica at that coffee shop afterwards.” I say to Bridget.  
“I think she’ll have put on a few pounds – maybe be up to about nine, and yes I haven’t forgot, actually I meant to tell you, Maura text me, it appears they’ve been out for drinks and they’re going for dinner tomorrow night so it wouldn’t surprise me if she also tagged along for coffee.”  
“That’s crazy! Seriously I was so certain Erica was not into women, but obviously the last few years have made her a bit more open to new possibilities, it would be kinda nice if things worked out for them, they’re both great and deserve to find someone.”  
“Yes, well I’ve known Maura for years and not really known her to actually date – she’s more of a one-night stand/needs get satisfied person so she must really like Erica to be going on proper dates.”  
“Well I’m glad, with Maura in the picture it certainly doesn’t make it as awkward as it could be between us, and for that I’m thankful.”  
“That’s true, that first encounter was slightly awkward I must say, but I think it was more because you were both surprised to see one another.”  
“I certainly was, I mean if you hadn’t appeared at Wentworth when you did back then, I would have gone into quite a bad depression, she did mean a lot to me and for her just to vanish – it hurt, but now, I wouldn’t go back and change a thing, because I probably wouldn’t have got to know you the way I did if she was still Governor when you arrived – you see, everything happens for a reason.”  
“I’m relieved to hear you say that Franky, not that I’ve been worried or anything, but still – there were obviously once strong feelings going on – and as you now know not just on your part. I do feel bad for Erica, the fact her life was falling apart as we were falling in love – but that’s just how life goes I guess, and now we have our beautiful Olivia.”  
“It’s funny Gidge, before I met you I wished I was never in Wentworth and could take back what I had done, I even felt like that when I had feelings for Erica – but ever since we began talking and getting to know one another, I was glad I was there, otherwise our paths would never have crossed, obviously I feel terrible about what I did to land me in there, but I’m still glad I was there to meet you.”  
“Well I’m glad our paths crossed too Franky – because I love you and Olivia so much.” We smile at each other, then both look down to our daughter who is just finishing her feed.  
“I love you both too, more than anything in the world, now come on – let’s get her ready for bed, then we can cuddle up together for a little while.”

Chp37  
Two weeks old today, I can’t believe how fast the days have gone in, it’s less than one month until Christmas and we are very excited for it this year. To think that last Christmas we hadn’t even discussed having a baby together and now we actually have one – it’s crazy. We have just left Olivia’s doctor’s check-up, she seems to be doing great, she’s almost at 9lbs now which is on target for where she should be. We are planning on doing some Christmas shopping before meeting up with Erica and Maura for a coffee.  
“Gidge, what stores do you want to go to then?” Franky asks as she takes the car seat from the Mercedes and attaches it to the stroller, this will be the first time we’ve used the stroller, as neither of us fancy carrying Olivia in her car seat all around the city centre while shopping.  
“Well, we need to get gifts for my parents, all of our friends, then of course Olivia – and I need to get yours as well but I guess there’s no way of me doing that today since you’re here.” We start walking down the busy street, Franky is pushing Olivia but I also have a hand loosely on the stroller, just wanting to feel connected to my daughter.  
“Let’s go look for your parents first then, we’ve got about two hours before coffee so hopefully we find some nice things before then.”  
“Okay sounds like a plan.” I smile at Franky as we enter the first store.  
Two hours later, we are both laden down with bags, some we have attached to Olivia’s stroller to save us carrying them.  
“That was reasonably successful – that’s your parents, Amelia and Greg, Benjamin and Vera and Will sorted.”  
“Well for only having two hours I think we did good; I definitely need that coffee now though!”  
Arriving at the coffee shop, we spot Erica and Maura already sat next to one another in a quiet area at the back. We manage to manoeuvre the stroller pass tables and chairs and greet both of them.  
“Hi you two, how have you been?” I ask as I sit down, Franky positions Olivia so she is facing the table.  
“We’re great thanks, we were just doing a bit of Christmas shopping, how are the three of you doing?” Maura asks.  
“The three of us are really good thanks, we were doing some Christmas shopping as well, think we got most things we were looking for, it’s just each other’s gifts we need to try and get the time to look for now.” Olivia starts to cry so Franky takes her in her arms, just as a waitress comes and takes our order – we ask her to heat a bottle for Olivia as well.  
“Do you want one of us to feed her while you both eat your sandwiches?” Erica asks as the waitress returns with our order.  
“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind Erica? I don’t want her to ruin your clothes if she’s sick on you.” Franky says as we both take in Erica’s rather expensive looking cashmere jumper.  
“It’s no problem, honestly I don’t mind.” She smiles at us warmly.  
“Okay, well if you’re sure – that would be a big help.” Franky stands up with Olivia and steps around to the opposite side of the table, where she places our daughter in Erica’s arms.  
“You got her okay? She’s quite squirmy, it might take her a few minutes to latch on to the bottle, I’ve already put her bib on so you’re all set really…”  
“Franky, would you relax? I’ve got her, don’t look so worried I’m sure I can handle it.” Franky sits back down next to me as Erica picks up the bottle and guides it into Olivia’s waiting mouth. She fusses slightly but then seems to settle down and happily drinks the milk.  
“Thanks for doing that Erica, this is the first time we’ve eaten together at the same time since she was born!” I state, we all start laughing at this, the conversation flows easily between us all, we hear that Erica and Maura are enjoying spending time and getting to know each other. Eventually the bottle Olivia has been drinking is empty and Erica pulls it away from her mouth.  
“I think she’s falling asleep, should I burp her beforehand? Do I just put her on my shoulder and tap her back yeah?”  
“Yeah do it now before she does, here put this towel over your jumper just in case, it’s almost a guarantee she will spit-up on you – apologise in advance.”  
“Hey – I volunteered remember? It’s all good.” Erica doesn’t seem to think twice, she just does it and soon enough she’s finished burping her and has Olivia in both her arms again, rocking her to sleep.  
“God, you really are good at that! Can we hire you?” Franky jokes.  
“Ha, I think this has just been a fluke, no way I’d be able to do every day!” Erica puts a now sleeping Olivia back in her stroller.  
“Bridget, I was thinking, do you fancy coming with me for an hour or so and looking for Franky’s gift? You two could do the same if you wanted.” Maura says, smiling at us all.  
“What do you think Franky? Would that plan be okay with you?” It’s quite a good idea I guess; Olivia is fast asleep now anyway so it is an ideal time.  
“Sure, I’m fine with that, why don’t we meet back at the car about 4.30pm, that gives us an hour and a half.”  
“Okay, let’s do that, oh – who’s going to take Olivia, neither of us have left her for more than a few minutes before.”  
“How about Erica and I take her, you get a bit of rest from baby duty – we can handle it, right Erica?”  
“Sure, no problem – she’s just been fed so I’m sure she’ll just sleep now.”  
“Right, okay that’s settled then, I won’t miss much if she’s sleeping anyway.” I say and Franky puts her arm around my shoulder and brings me in for a hug.  
“Well, you’ll find it easier to navigate the crowds without the stroller, why don’t you and Maura head out, I’ll take care of the check and then we’ll do the same.”  
“Okay, I’ll see you at 4.30pm then.” I lean in and give Franky a quick kiss, then move over to a sleeping Olivia, where I gently stroke her cheek so I don’t wake her up.  
FRANKY POV  
I never really thought how weird this situation would be when I agreed to it back at the coffee shop, it’s literally like something out of the twilight zone. Instead of my wife, Bridget, pushing Olivia in her stroller, I’m currently walking through a busy department store with my former nearly-lover from a past lifetime. I have my hands full with various gifts, hence why Erica is currently the one pushing my daughter, I’m currently wondering if she finds this just as odd as I do, or whether I’m overthinking the entire situation.  
“What else do you need to get then Franky? You seem to have picked up quite a lot so far.”  
“I’m wanting to get Bridget an eternity ring, it’s traditional to receive after the birth of your first child.”  
“That sounds like a lovely idea, I’m sure Bridget would be thrilled to get one.”  
“I think so too, are you okay to stay here with Olivia? I’m just going to go over there and queue to pay but it looks really busy.”  
“No it’s fine, you go pay, we’ll be fine waiting here for ten minutes or so.” I smile at Erica the have a peek in the stroller to see a still sleeping Olivia.  
“Okay I’ll be back soon, thanks!”  
Twenty minutes later I return to find Olivia being rocked in Erica’s arms as she fusses and makes little whimpering noises.  
“Oh, I am so sorry Erica! Typical she’s fine for almost an hour and when I leave she gets restless.”  
“It’s okay, no worries, I think she just wanted a cuddle anyway.” Olivia does appear to be settling down now, thankfully.  
“Okay, thanks, you can just keep rocking her like that then if you don’t mind and we can go over to the jewellery section so I can look at the rings.”  
“Sure no problem, I’ll keep a hold of her, can you push the stroller?” I take hold of the stroller and guide it over to the counter filled with rings, Erica and Olivia are a few feet behind me at a quieter bit of the store.  
“Oh what a beautiful daughter you have! She is so tiny, how old is she?” I hear an older woman ask Erica as the man behind the counter starts showing me a few selections.  
“Actually she’s not mine, I’m just watching her for a friend, but she’s just turned two weeks old today.” I turn around to face Erica and she gives me a small, almost apologetic smile.  
“Well she is gorgeous, such a cute little face.” The woman says to Erica.  
“She definitely takes after her mother – that’s for sure.” Erica replies while looking down at Olivia.  
The woman finally walks away and Erica comes to stand next to me at the counter.  
“Franky she’s getting really fussy again, I’m not sure what to do.” I look down at Olivia and see her waving around her little arms and legs as her lips are pursed together in concentration.  
“Oh, I think she needs to be changed Erica, the salesman is just away to package up the ring I’ve decided on, here, give her to me and as soon as I have it I’ll go and get her sorted out.” I hold out my arms, expecting Olivia to be quickly thrusted at me after what I’ve just said.  
“I really don’t mind changing her Franky, I mean I’ve never done it before, but it’s not too hard, right?” I look at Erica in shock, there’s no way this is the same woman I used to know!  
“I couldn’t let you do that, trust me when I say it’s not pleasant and she’s my daughter so my responsibility Erica.”

“I insist on helping you out, I’ll grab her bag and I’ll be back before you know it, don’t worry everything will be just fine.” She smiles brightly at me, that expression is sure to change when she sees the nappy.  
“Well if you’re sure you don’t mind; it would be a big help.”  
“I don’t, I’ll be right back okay? I’ll just leave the stroller.” And then she’s off in the direction of the baby changing.  
Ten minutes later, the ring is all packaged in a lovely gift box, ready for Christmas morning. I see Erica walking towards me, Olivia clutched in her arms and nappy bag flung over her shoulder.  
“Okay, I concede, you were right that was not pleasant, but I can now say I’ve changed my first nappy! Thankfully your daughter was fully co-operable so it made it easier than it could have been.” Erica says, passing Olivia to me.  
“I told you, but thanks so much – oh well good, you’ll be able to babysit in the future then.” I say joking, and yep Erica looks terrified at the prospect.  
“Maybe not by myself, if Maura was there then possibly.”  
“So…you and Maura, how is that going? Things seem to be moving quite fast.” I say putting Olivia in her stroller, as we make our way out the store.  
“Honestly? I really like her Franky, I know it’s not even been two full weeks but she’s great and fun to be around, I find myself wanting to be with her all the time! The bonus is she is incredibly hot!”  
“That is true! Well, do you see yourself getting into a relationship with her? Or is that still too soon?” I look to Erica, who is now biting her bottom lip in concentration.  
“I want us to be official, completely exclusive, that sort of thing, but I don’t know if she feels the same way or if she’s just looking for a bit of fun.”  
“Can I ask you a question Erica?”  
“Sure” I ponder how to ask this, as it is very personal.  
“Have you been intimate with her yet?” Now it’s me biting my lip, hoping I haven’t overstepped.  
“God this is so embarrassing! No, we haven’t been so far, kissing is as far as it’s went.” I smile when I hear this.  
“Well then, I think Maura is in this for more than just a bit of fun, she really likes you too, otherwise you would probably already have slept together. Go for it Erica, there’s nothing stopping you.”  
“Okay, I will – thanks Franky. We’re going for dinner tomorrow night so I’ll talk to her about it then.”  
We walk in relative silence, and before we know it we are approaching the Mercedes, I spot Bridget right away and Maura is by her side.  
“Hi darling, I missed you both.” Bridget says as she wraps her arms around me, then peeks her head down to check on Olivia.  
“We missed you too mummy – are you ready to head home then?”  
“Yes I am, thanks Maura for suggesting we do that, I think I have most things now, and thank you too Erica, for looking after Franky and Olivia, Bridget says with a chuckle and I nudge her shoulder.  
“Hey! I’m not that bad – Erica was great with Olivia though; we can definitely add her to our list of babysitters.” I say with a smirk.  
“It was a pleasure Bridget, well we better let you set off home then, and hopefully we see the three of you again soon.”  
We all exchange goodbyes then climb into our respective cars and head home. 

Chp38  
“Can you believe it’s Christmas eve Gidge? Where have the past six weeks gone? Olivia is getting bigger and more alert by the day!” Franky says as we lay on the floor in front of the fire, with Olivia between us.  
“I know, but look at her Franky – we made that, I still can’t believe it sometimes – I’m so glad we told people to stay away until the 26th, it’ll be nice having her first Christmas as just the three of us.”  
“Well I think we deserve a day of rest before everyone descends upon us! I still don’t know what we were thinking when we asked people to come for a party – I mean, it’ll be nice seeing everyone but god, it’s a lot of people!”  
“Hmm yes, and a few kids as well – I’m sure we’ll all have fun though, we’re lucky that we have so many people who care about us and want to spend the holidays at our house.”  
“Good point, it will be nice to have the place filled with family and friends. Oh, speaking of, Erica and Maura are coming as a couple! That’ll be almost a month they’ve been official!”  
“I can’t believe you gave dating advice and it actually worked, no offence darling – but that must be a first!” I laugh as Franky mocks a look of hurt.  
“Ha, you may laugh but it worked and Erica actually listened to what I had to say – which is shocking in itself!”  
“They look good together though, I’m happy for them.”  
“Same here. Ugh, one thing I’m not happy about is the fact that after new year I need to go back to work – it sucks! I don’t want to leave my two girls.”  
“Well we don’t want you to go either, but we knew it was only six weeks, at least it came at the holidays, gives you a few extra days since the office is closed.”  
“That’s a good point, anyway let’s not think about that right now, let’s just focus on the festive season and enjoy it.”  
The next morning, I am awoken by Franky jumping up and down on her knees beside me on the bed.  
“Gidge, get up it’s Christmas morning! I’m so excited!” I look over at the clock – 6.30am, is she kidding me right now?  
“Franky, it’s 6.30am! You can’t be serious right now? Let me sleep!” I roll over to my other side, trying to ignore her.  
“No Gidget, you need to get up, look who I have here with me for morning cuddles with mummy.” I can’t help the smile that forms on my lips when I hear this, I roll over to face her again. This time she has Olivia in her arms, holding her out to me.  
“Oh my god, Franky! When did you buy that? It’s adorable!” I squeal as I see our daughter is dressed as an elf.  
“I bought it last week and thought I would surprise you with the cuteness on Christmas morning.” I reach out and take Olivia from Franky, there is no denying she looks super cute.  
“Oh, this is for you to put on Gidge, so we can take really cheesy photos and embarrass the hell out of our daughter when she’s older!” Franky hands me a Santa hat with beard attached.  
“What haven’t you thought of?” I say while taking the hat, laughing and trying to put it on with one hand while I hold Olivia.  
“Well, I did say this would be our best Christmas yet, so I totally need to kick it off in style!” She winks at me, then moves back over towards me, taking Olivia from my arms.  
Once in the Livingroom, Franky places Olivia in her little bouncer chair and we sit down on the floor next to her to exchange gifts.  
“Right, me first. Here you go Gidge, I hope you like it.” Franky hands me over my main present, I have already received clothes, a spa day and a new camera.  
“Thanks love, I can’t wait to see what it is!” I say excitedly as I hold the small, square box. I can’t help the audible gasp that escapes my lips when I see its contents.  
“Oh my god, Franky this is beautiful! I love it!”  
“It’s traditional to get you an eternity ring after the birth of our first child, and when I saw this I thought of you. It’s a diamond on the middle there, and those are sapphires at each side.” Franky says, pointing to the ring I now hold.  
“Look at the inside of it babe.” Franky requests, so I peer at the ring for a closer inspection.  
’16-01-15 & 14-11-16’  
“Our wedding date and Olivia’s birthday! Aww Franky, you’re going to make me cry!” I say, tears beginning to gather.  
“Well, I know that these two dates are the most special to us, now you’ll carry them with you forever.” We lean in for a tender kiss as I continue to stare at the beautiful ring.  
“Well thank you so much darling, I’ll treasure this gift forever.” We sit in silence for a few moments.  
“Right, your turn for your main present now.” I hand Franky an envelope, I’m excited about this but also a little apprehensive as to what she’ll think about what I have planned.  
“Oh and envelope, I’m intrigued!” she starts opening it and pulls out the piece of paper.  
“A long weekend to The Gold Coast! Oh wow! That sounds fantastic!”  
“I thought you’d like that, it’s from the 14th to the 17th January, so we’re there for our anniversary.” I smile at Franky, trying to make sure her reaction is genuine.  
“This really is great, and it’s only like a two-hour flight as well, who will we get to take Olivia while we’re away then?”  
“Well, my parents are good to have her Friday and Saturday night, but they have a wedding on the Sunday so can’t watch her then, I mentioned it to Amelia but her and Greg aren’t available either. Don’t worry, we’ll get someone, it’s only the one night.”  
“Okay, sounds good then, I’m sure we’ll find someone. It will be weird leaving her for a few days, but I think we could both use a bit of a break, plus we won’t be far away.”  
“Well that’s what I thought, oh and don’t worry, I’ve spoken with Marcus and he says that’s fine to take the Friday and Monday off.”  
“Thanks Gidge, I’m looking forward to it, all that relaxing for a few days’ sounds amazing right now.”  
“Exactly baby, right let’s get this wrapping paper tidied up then start making lunch, you need to do that turkey remember.”  
The next day comes around much too fast, everyone is gathered in the Livingroom, my parents, Amelia, Greg, Benjamin, Vera, Will, Maura and Erica. I’ll admit, it is nice to have a house full of people, especially at the holidays. Franky is gently bouncing Olivia in her arms, trying to calm her down, she’s been extra fussy today for some reason.  
“Hey Franky, want me to take her, give your arms a rest for a little bit?” I smile sweetly as I observe Maura approach Franky and ask her.  
“That would be great actually, I really need to pee!” I can hear Franky say as she hands Olivia over to Maura – who seems comfortable around the baby now.  
“Hi Maura, so glad you and Erica could make it – how was your day yesterday?” I ask as I approach Maura and my daughter, who seems to finally be settling.  
“Hey Bridget, thanks for the invite – food has been great! And Erica and I spent the day together at my place, neither of us have family near so it made sense, it was really nice actually.”  
“That’s nice to hear. I’m glad Olivia seems to be settling now, poor Franky must have been going crazy.” I stroke Olivia’s cheek, then move my finger down to her tiny hand, she grabs a hold of it, surprisingly tightly.  
“She’s such a sweet girl Bridget, you both got very lucky – that’s some grip she has on her!”  
“She seems to be getting stronger by the day!” I say proudly, just then I feel two strong arms loop around my waist and feel my wife’s front pushed against my back.  
“Hi baby.” Franky whispers in my ear.  
“Hi yourself.” I say, turning in the embrace so we are face-to-face.  
“Olivia seems to have settled down anyway, she was being unusually fussy today.” I nod along with Franky, before we turn our attention back to Maura, to find Erica has now joined her side.  
“Hey guys, great little party you’ve got here – thanks again for having us.” Erica says as she snakes an arm around Maura’s waist.  
“It’s a pleasure having you both, want me to take her again Maura?” Franky asks, looking at the now sleeping baby.  
“If you want, I don’t mind holding her – she’s just so cute!”  
“That’s fine, if you want you can put her in her crib if she gets too much.”  
“You’re just as good with her as Erica.” Franky comments to Maura.  
“Ah, but this is when babies are easiest, especially when they’re asleep and you can give them back to the parents!”  
“Good point, oh actually, this reminds me, Franky and I are headed to The Gold Coast for a long weekend, my parents can look after Olivia the Friday and Saturday night but they have a wedding on the Sunday. We were going to ask if you two wouldn’t mind watching her the Sunday night and Monday? We’ll be back early evening Monday, if you can’t then we can ask Vera and Will.” Erica is the first to speak up.  
“We would love to watch her! I’m sure between the two of us we can manage.” I smile at Maura and Erica.  
“Thank you! That is a massive help!” Franky says.  
“Anytime, you know we love spending time with her anyway.” Maura adds happily.  
“Thanks, well if you’re both good with her right now, Bridget and I should probably go mingle with the others, before they think we’re being rude!”  
“Franky and I walk around the Livingroom, chatting to my parents, who seem to be counting down the days to our vacation so they have Olivia all to themselves for a few days.  
“When is it you go back to work Franky?” My dad asks.  
“I go back on 3rd January, so at least I have new year off, then I suppose it’s not long after that until my beautiful wife here whisks me away for a few days of relaxation.” Franky gives me a huge smile and pulls me towards her in a one armed hug.  
“It will be nice for you both to get a break.” My mum comments.  
“Yes it will, and now we have Olivia taken care of for each day we’re gone – Maura and Erica have kindly agreed to take her on the Sunday and Monday, so that’s a relief.” I inform my parents.  
“Good, she’ll be well looked after then.” I nod my head at my dad, we then excuse ourselves to go and get our daughter from Maura, all that talk about leaving her suddenly makes both Franky and I want to see her immediately. 

Chp39

We have had such a nice and relaxing time over the festive period, a quiet Christmas day just the three of us, family and friends over for Boxing Day and on new year’s eve we went over to Amelia and Greg – they have an annual party and everyone was there, as usual.  
Today though, is the day I’ve been dreading for just over six weeks’ now, it’s my first day back at work, meaning I need to leave Bridget and little Olivia on their own – also a first. I’m sure Bridget will be fine, Olivia is usually a very good baby, I guess I’m just not ready to leave them yet, I don’t want to miss anything at all. I got up an hour ago – at 6am and fed and changed Olivia, she’s still in our room for now, not sure when we’ll move her into the crib in her own room yet. Bridget is still sleeping as I get ready and it looks like Olivia has dozed off again as well. I need to leave in half an hour so that gives me just enough time to grab some coffee and breakfast.  
I walk back in to the bedroom twenty minutes later, it’s almost 7.30am and I need to be in early this morning for a board meeting.  
“Franky?” I hear Bridget whisper as she rolls over, arm outstretched to my side of the bed, clearly trying to feel for me. I sit down next to her on her side of the bed and wipe some hair from her face.  
“Hi baby, I need to leave for work in a few minutes, I fed and changed Olivia about 45 minutes ago so try and get some more sleep, okay?” I lean down and give her forehead a kiss, her eyes open and she gazes up at me.  
“We’ll miss you today, thanks for getting her this morning and letting me sleep.”  
“I’ll miss the two of you as well, so much. No problem, I know you’ve been tired – she will probably be out for another hour or so, go back to sleep. I love you and I’ll see you around 6pm, okay?” Bridget smiles and pulls me down to her lips.  
“Don’t work too hard darling, I love you too, we will both be eagerly awaiting you tonight.” With one final kiss I stand up and move to the Moses basket where Olivia is asleep.  
“Be good for your mummy today baby girl, I love you and will be home later tonight.” I lean down and kiss her crown, careful not to disturb her since she looks so peaceful. With one final look at my now sleeping wife, I pick up my briefcase and head out the door.  
I arrive at work just after 8am, the meeting is at 8.30am so this will give me a bit of time to catch up with people and be informed of any big cases we have.  
“Franky, nice to have you back! You ready to get back into it?” Marcus asks as he catches up with me and walks by my side.  
“Hey Marcus, thanks. Not really, it was hard leaving my girls this morning – I’m sure you know what I mean.” I smile at him and he returns a sympathetic smile of his own.  
“After the first arrived – that’s exactly how I felt – now though, work is respite away from the craziness!” I laugh as he says this.  
“Fair enough, this is it for Bridget and I though, we’re lucky to even have Olivia. Oh, I understand Bridget organised for me to have two days off, the 14th and 17th, yeah?”  
“That’s right – she’s quite the planner! That’ll be nice having a little break away, just the two of you.”  
“Ha, she is that! Hm, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the trip, just apprehensive about leaving Olivia, I mean, she’ll be nine weeks by then and Bridget’s parents and our friends are looking after her so she’ll be fine – it’s just the thought of being separated.”  
“Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned since becoming a dad Franky, it’s that what you’re feeling – that worry about being separated, it never really goes away, hate to break it to you, doesn’t matter what age they are. It’s hard, but ultimately inevitable.”  
“I guess that’s true, I know Bridget feels the same way but she wanted to do something special for our anniversary – however, I did notice that our return flight is changeable, so she’s clearly thinking ahead just in case we are needed back early.” Marcus can’t help but laugh at this.  
“Why am I not surprised to hear that? Just go and have fun, you can call and text each day to see how she’s doing – it’ll be fine.”  
“You’re right, I know you are I’m just being the paranoid parent! Anyway, enough chat – we have a meeting to get to!” we continue to walk until we reach the meeting room. ‘Here goes nothing...’ I think as we step inside. 

Bridget POV

The house is quiet this afternoon as Olivia has her nap, normally Franky would be keeping me entertained with stupid storied and jokes, I never thought I’d miss her this much – especially after only six hours or so. I haven’t been out the house with Olivia on my own before either, it’s not that I’m nervous – she just has a lot of stuff and it will probably take me an hour to get prepared. Maybe a walk to the shops would do us good though, it’s a sunny afternoon, we would get some fresh air - yeah when Olivia wakes up from her nap I think we’ll head out.  
“Hi baby girl, did you have a good nap? We’re going to go on a little adventure to the shops – now do you want to go in your stroller or Baby Bjorn? Huh? Yes, I think you want to be close to mummy, don’t you Olivia?” It’s not as if I’m expecting a reply, I just like to interact with her.  
“Okay, let mummy just strap the carrier on then we can get you in it and comfy, okay?” Olivia just makes little gurgling noises.  
“I’ll take that as a yes then!” Hmm, Franky normally helps me put this on, it’s not overly complicated, just awkward really.  
“Okay that seems to be it on now, let’s get you settled Olivia.” I say as I pick her up out of the Moses basket and very gently put her legs and arms in the right places, while also being careful with her head.  
“There you go, all cosy cuddled up with mummy.” I coo down at my daughter before picking up her nappy bag and heading out.  
I walk down the street with Olivia attached to my chest, she is fast asleep again. I have decided I am going to make Franky dinner tonight so will pick up the ingredients needed at the grocery store. I grab a trolley as I enter, putting the nappy bag in it to avoid carrying it anymore – it’s a lot heavier than most people would assume.  
“Okay Olivia, what should we make your mummy for dinner tonight? Hmm let’s see – maybe I’ll make my chicken casserole, she does say that is her favourite.” Olivia just makes little gurgling noises as she starts to wake up.  
“Glad you agree baby, I’ll even let you sit in your bouncer while I make it – I know how much you enjoy that.”  
Suddenly, there’s some sort of commotion from the front of the shop, I hear someone yell and then a woman scream. I have no idea what is happening and I stand frozen in the fruit and veg aisle, clutching tighter on to my daughter.  
“Excuse me, ma’am? Can I get you to come with me to the back of the store, it’s not safe here.” A young man, in his mid-twenties with an employee uniform on, says in a hushed tone, approaching me with a small amount of other shoppers. I blindly start to follow them.  
“What’s happening? Where are we going?” I ask, beginning to panic.  
“I’m not 100% sure what is going on at the front of the store, but I think someone is trying to rob the place, I seen as guy with a knife – he was threatening my manager. I’m taking all of you back to the offices – it’s secure entry so you should be safe in there until help arrives.”  
“Oh god – I hope no one is hurt.”  
“Right, everyone in here, don’t open the door for anyone not in employee or law enforcement uniform, okay?” The young assistant says, as he starts to make his way back out of the office.  
“Where are you going? You can’t go out there if he has a knife! You could get hurt!” I say, trying to talk sense into him.  
“Don’t worry, I’m in the police academy, just about to graduate, I know what I’m doing – I need to get out there and help anyone who might be in danger. As long as all of you are safe in here, that’s what matters, please stay put and let me do what I’ve been trained to do, okay?”  
“Right, okay, just please don’t do anything stupid, and thank you for protecting us.” He smiles at me as he heads back out.  
Twenty minutes pass as myself, Olivia and a few other customers sit on the floor of the office – waiting to be told it is safe and we can leave.  
“Calm down Olivia, it’s okay, we’ll be out soon baby.” I coo as Olivia cries, I have removed her from the carrier and now have her cradled in my arms.  
“I’m sorry, mummy left your bag in the trolley, we’ll get you changed soon though sweetie.”  
“How old is she?” a woman sat next to me asks.  
“She’s just over six weeks now.” I reply politely.  
“Ah yes I remember mine at that age, 21 now, enjoy her being little while you can, time sure does fly by!”  
“Yes, so I’ve heard. Oh Olivia, everything will be fine, we’ll be out of here soon, I’m sure of it.” Just as I say this we hear sirens approaching the store, I let out a sigh in relief. That’s when I also hear my phone start to ring. Shit, it’s Franky.  
“Hey baby.” I say as calmly as possible into the phone.  
“Hi Gidge, where are you? I tried phoning the house but there was no answer.” I can’t exactly lie to her; she would be so mad if I did that.  
“Umm, Franky I need to you listen carefully to me okay? Please don’t freak out, we’re both absolutely fine. I went to the grocery store and while we were walking around I heard a commotion – turns out some guy is threatening to rob the place. We’re safe though, in the back office. Police are here now, not sure if they have him yet or not though.”  
“What?! Oh my god! Right, I’m leaving now, I’ll be down in ten minutes okay? Everything will be find baby, kiss Olivia for me. I love you.”  
“Okay baby, I love you too – Olivia won’t stop crying, she needs changed and I don’t have her bag. Oh wait, someone is at the door. Who is it?” I say, holding my breath, waiting for a reply.  
“I’m officer Kennedy, the suspect has been apprehended, it’s safe to get you folks out of here now.”  
“Gidge, ask to see a badge before you open the door.”  
“Okay Franky, yeah will do. Officer – can I see your badge first please?” He puts it up to the door – looks legit to me.  
“Okay, I’m going to open the door now.” I open it and more police have now joined officer Kennedy, ready to escort us out.  
“Franky, we’re getting taken out now, I’ll see you out the front.”  
“Okay, see you in a few minutes, love you.” With that, she hangs up, I manage to grab Olivia’s bag from the trolley as we pass it, at least I’ll now be able to change her.  
“What happened Officer Kennedy?”  
“Well, one suspect – armed with a chef’s knife, demanding money from the register, became aggressive and tried to lunge for the manager, however, another employee managed to jump on him and tackle the knife away – sustaining a knife wound to his shoulder while doing so, but when we arrived the young guy had the assailant pinned to the floor so we then arrested him.”  
“Wow, is the employee going to be okay?”  
“Yeah, just a flesh wound – he was lucky, he’s training in the academy to become a cop – but the skills he’d learned to good use.”  
“That’s the same guy that got us to safety in the back office – I don’t know what we would have done without him.”  
Finally, outside, I spot Franky right away and she rushes over to us, immediately kissing me and then taking Olivia in to her own arms and kissing her too.  
“That phone call had me so worried! I’m so glad you’re both okay, god, I don’t think I’ve ever driven as fast!”  
“I know, I was terrified, this kid working here basically saved us though, made sure we were safe in the back office then went and managed to tackle the suspect who had the knife. Poor kid got stabbed in the shoulder.”  
“Shit – I hope he’s going to be okay, I owe him one that’s for sure. God, I’m just so glad you’re both okay, let’s go home now – we can just order in some food tonight!” Franky says and I couldn’t agree more.  
Once back home, the reality of the day’s events hit me hard and I cuddle up with Franky on the sofa as I cry, she’s holding Olivia who is completely unaware of everything that’s happened, thankfully.  
“I can’t believe the first time I take her out by myself, something like this happens – I know we were never really directly threatened, but being in that small office, I was so scared he would come find us, if anything ever happened to Olivia – oh god Franky I can’t even imagine!” I cry even harder into my wife’s shoulder as she wraps her free arm around me.  
“Shh, shh – you did so good today baby, you kept her safe and you are both totally fine. It was just an unfortunate coincidence, but everyone involved today is going to be just fine okay? Don’t even try to blame yourself – it’s not like you willingly put Olivia in any danger okay? Now come on – no more tears, I love you and I’m so proud of you for staying calm and doing what you could to protect her. I think your daughter wants a cuddle with her other mummy now though – here take her, I’ll go get us some drinks.” Franky passes over our daughter, kisses my forehead and goes off to the kitchen. 

Chp40

“Ugh Gidge, I really didn’t think it would be this hard to leave her – I know we’re only away for a few days, and it’s not even far but I’m going to miss he so much.” I say to my wife as I hold my daughter tightly in my arms, putting kisses all over her face and hat clad head.  
“I know darling, but she will be absolutely fine – my parents have her first and she’s used to them by now so I don’t think there’ll be any issues.” I know that I’m being irrational – of course Olivia will be fine, I trust the people we are leaving her with, there’s just this feeling in the back of my mind I can’t quite explain – it feels like I’m worrying for no reason though.  
“You’re right, you know what I’m lie though, oh Gidge, did you remember and pack the nebuliser? Just in case she needs it, hopefully not though.” I ask Bridget this because there have been a few nights Olivia has needed the nebuliser to help with her breathing – she has been colicky recently – which has caused her to wheeze at night.  
“I did yes – hopefully she won’t need it, I hate having her hooked up to it, I know it helps but I don’t like it at all.”  
“Me neither, but I feel better knowing she is breathing okay because of it, especially at night.” I smile at Bridget, we’re just about to leave for her parents’ house, where we will drop Olivia off, then head to the airport.  
“Yeah I know, anyway we better head – go put her in her car seat, I’ll grab the last bag.” Bridget says so I go out to the car to get Olivia settled.  
Thirty minutes later, we’re saying goodbye to our daughter, it will take only 15 minutes to get to the airport from here so we’re savouring every minute of goodbyes. Olivia is nestled between Bridget and myself – she’s just awoken from her nap.  
“Bye Olivia, I love you so much and mummy and I will be back soon – you’re going to be looked after so well while we’re gone though, be a good girl okay?” I give her a kiss and Bridget does the same.  
“Yes my sweet girl, we won’t be gone long – be good and I love you too.” I then hand Olivia over to William, make sure Bridget’s parents’ have all the information they’ll need, before we head off to the airport.  
The flight only took two hours to reach The Gold Coast, we are now all checked in to our hotel room – a lovely one-bedroom suite Bridget picked for us with excellent views of the ocean.  
“Darling, when do you want to go for dinner? The restaurant in the hotel is supposed to be lovely, but we can always get reservations there for our anniversary on Sunday night and try somewhere else tonight.” Bridget says as we are getting changed for the evening.  
“How about we go for a walk and see what restaurants we find? There’ll be loads down at the beach area, it’s not too far.”  
“Sure sounds good – I’ll wear my flats tonight then!” I laugh as Bridget as she says this – she’s trying to pick what to wear tonight, I’ve already settled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a long sleeve red & black plaid shirt, which I’ve tucked in. I’ll wear my black leather jacket and black suede boots to finish off my look. Bridget has tried to get me to wear dresses and skirts in the past but it’s totally not my thing, so she’s learned to accept this is as fancy as she’ll get me.  
“Gidge, what’s taking so long? I want to leave while it’s still light out since we don’t know the area.” I hear sniffling coming from the bedroom as I’m grabbing a beer from the minibar, I frown, put my drink down and head to the door.  
“Babe, what’s wrong? Why the tears all of a sudden?” She’s standing looking at her reflection in the mirror.  
“I’m repulsive Franky! Look at me! I brought that LBD you like so much on me but it doesn’t fit properly anymore!”  
“Oh honey, come here.” I reach out for Bridget and pull her in to me so her head is resting on my chest, I brush my hand through her hair as my other rubs gentle strokes on her back.  
“Sweetie, listen to me okay, you’re perfect – and before you even think about protesting, I love your body even more now than I did before, and do you know why that is?” I can feel her shaking her head from side to side, signalling ‘no’.  
“Well, it’s because now, your body has done the most incredible thing, it nurtured and housed our daughter for nine whole months – every part of you is now a testament to that little girl we have.” I lift Bridget’s chin up so she looks me in the eye, the sight is heart-breaking – I had absolutely no idea she was feeling so insecure.  
“You really mean all of that Franky? My body doesn’t disgust you now?” I feel tears start to build in my own eyes at my beautiful wife’s words.  
“God, Bridget I love every single part of you and I always will okay? I know you must be feeling unconfident – but can we please take a minute to remember it’s only been like two months since Olivia was born? I think you look incredible, my love.” I emphasise this by placing a tender kiss to her lips.  
“I’m sorry Franky, I think I’ve been overcome with these feelings because it’s the first time I’ve tried to dress in my fancy pre-pregnancy clothes, I can get the dress zipped up but my stomach is bulging and makes me look fat.” Bridget has a little pout on her face and I can’t help but lean in to kiss it away.  
“Well, I want to see it, let me help you put it back on this time okay?” I get a slow nod in agreement and grab the dress off the hanger.  
“Here, step into it babe.” I kneel down and Bridget does as I ask; I slowly pull the dress up so it is at her hips, I place a kiss at her bellybutton before I stand, bringing the dress up with me and help her put her arms into the awaiting sleeves, I turn her around so she is facing the mirror, her back to me, I slowly zip up the dress, planting little kisses up her spine has I do so. Once the zip is fully up, I move flush behind her, lean by chin on her shoulder and put my arms around her waist.  
“See Gidge, so beautiful.” I say as I kiss her neck. She turns into my embrace and kisses me on the lips.  
“Thank you Franky, I think I just worry what people will think – at least when I have Olivia with me it’s obvious why my stomach is still a lit large.”  
“You’re gorgeous and I can’t wait to have you on my arm for the night – if you still feel self-conscious, then tomorrow we will go shopping for other outfits you can wear out to dinner – and leave your pre-pregnancy ones until you feel comfortable in them again.”  
“That’s why I love you so much baby, you’re always so understanding and care for me so much.”  
“Anything for you.” I kiss her again as she finishes getting ready. 

The next morning, I wake with Bridget in my arms – last night once back at the hotel was the first time we have been intimate with each other since about a month before Olivia was born – I’m not going to lie – it has been killing me but obviously we couldn’t resume our usual routine until Bridget was fully healed and also ready – I didn’t want to pressure her. Last night was amazing though, I made sure to be careful but to also worship every part of my wife’s body – trying my best to fully emphasise everything I said to her before dinner last night.  
“Morning Franky.” Bridget says sleepily as she stirs next to me.  
“Good morning indeed!” I enthusiastically reply to my wife.  
“Last night was amazing darling, thank you for having patience these last few months – I hope the wait was worth it.” I give Bridget a kiss and pull her so she is fully on top of me.  
“Babe, you have no idea! It was incredible.” I kiss her again more forcefully this time.  
“God, you are insatiable!” Bridget says with a laugh as we begin to explore each other all over again. 

Bridget POV  
The days go in fast, before we know it, it’s our anniversary – we have phoned and checked on Olivia every day so far – most days multiple times, judging by the time it is now, Maura and Erica will have Olivia, we’ll give it until evening time to phone so they can at least get her settled. Franky and I have had a lovely few days, but I think it’s fair to say we are both more than ready for tomorrow to come so we can go home to our baby girl – we miss her so much.  
“Gidge, reservations at the hotel restaurant are for 7pm tonight, that’ll give us time to get ready once we’re back in the room.”  
“Sounds great – we can phone to check Olivia before that then so she’s still up, maybe we could facetime.” I say with a hopeful tone.  
“Yeah, that should be fine, will be nice seeing her cute little face.”  
“I can’t wait – so annoying we couldn’t get it to work with my parents – it was far too fuzzy to see her at all.” Franky gives me a sympathetic nod, then runs fast back down to the ocean to enjoy the last hour or so at the beach.  
Three hours later, Franky and I are both ready for our anniversary dinner – it’s just after 6pm now so we decide to phone Erica, Maura and Olivia, then head down to the bar for a drink before our reservation time. I grab the iPad and sit down on the sofa next to Franky – we dial Maura first – no answer. We then try Erica, after about ten rings, we are about to abandon our attempt when a rather dishevelled Erica picks up. She looks like she’s been in the middle of something and Franky and I exchange raised eyebrows before turning our attention back to Erica.  
“Hi Erica – hope we’re not interrupting anything important.” I say directly to her through the screen.  
“Hi, Bridget, Franky – no, no nothing like that – honestly! Umm actually we’re kind of in the middle of a situation here, can I call you back later? Erica’s eyes are pleading with us and we both can hear Maura call for her to ‘come quick’ in the background.  
“Erica – what’s going on? Is everything okay there?” Franky says, her voice laced with worry.  
“Well, I don’t want either of you to worry but – Olivia seems to have a little bit of a temperature, I went out earlier and bought a baby thermometer and her temperature came back at 99.7F, and I read on-line and it says normal should be 97.5F, so we’re just monitoring it for now, I’m taking frequent readings and we have Olivia in just a nappy so she should cool down hopefully, if it gets any higher we’ll let you guys know – we just didn’t want to worry you when it’s only slightly raised.”  
“Oh god! She’s never had a high fever before, Erica – how is her breathing? Remember she’s been suffering from colic the last two weeks or so, it could be related to that.”  
“She seems absolutely fine right now in every other way, just a bit of a high temp so far – when your parents dropped her off earlier your dad said he had a bit of a cold so I’m thinking she might have picked that up.” I wish we were back at home now so I could look after Olivia – typical that this is the first time and we’re not with her.  
“That’s probably it then, she can pick up things like that so easy at her age.” I say, more than anything just trying to reassure myself that she’ll be fine.  
“Listen guys, Maura is trying to give her a bath right now so I’m going to go help her out – we’ll talk later and give you an update okay?”  
“Right, sure yeah go help Maura – thanks for looking after her, hope she won’t be too much trouble for you both.” Franky says.  
“We’ll be absolutely fine you two, now go, try and enjoy your last night – it’s your anniversary after all, Olivia will be fine and you’ll see her tomorrow.”  
“You’re right, okay thanks Erica – give her kisses from us.” I say as we end the conversation.  
“I don’t like not being with her for this, it’s the first time she’s been sick Franky, what if she gets worse through the night? How will they know what to do? God Franky – I wouldn’t even know what to do and I’m her mother!”  
“Bridget, baby calm down okay – they’ve done a great job so far, Erica done research and went and bought a thermometer, they’re obviously keeping a close eye on her and if anything changes they’ll call, okay?” Franky pulls me into her lap and holds me close to her.  
“Okay, yes you’re right – of course you are. Let’s go down for dinner then since we can’t do anything right now anyway, plus it is our anniversary after all.” I kiss Franky then move to get off her lap and stand up.  
We have a lovely meal at the hotel restaurant, however, I think it’s safe to say both of us are too worried about Olivia to properly enjoy ourselves. Franky and I are back in the room by 10pm, we heard from Maura about an hour ago and Olivia’s fever appears to be the same – I suppose that’s better than it getting worse though.  
“Want to just head to be then Gidge? We can always get up early and see if there’s a morning flight home to Olivia.”  
“Yes! Let’s definitely try and do that – I was missing her before but now I just need to be with her, it’s killing me.”  
“I know baby, same here – we’ll be back with her soon – then we’re not leaving her again until she’s 18! Franky says in a serious voice and I can’t help but laugh.  
“I couldn’t agree more babe.”

The next afternoon we are pulling up to Maura’s house, we called to say we managed to get an earlier flight back and I think there was relief for both Erica and Maura when we told them. I knock on the door with Franky by my side. Not a minute later, Erica answers the door, our daughter sleeping in her arms.  
“I literally just got her to sleep, it’s been a restless night, she’s been very fussy – just because she’s feeling under the weather. Maura has just gone for a quick shower; your lovely daughter here was sick all in her hair.” Erica says in a hushed tone, as she steps aside, letting us in.  
“Oh god, we are so sorry Erica – you must both be exhausted today! Can I take her? I missed her so much.” Franky says, also whispering so as not to wake Olivia.  
“Here, you got her?” Erica says to Franky, handing our daughter over.  
“Yup, there’s my little baby, your mummies missed you so much – we are so sorry you got sick and we weren’t here – but we’re here now baby.” Franky coos, just then, Maura appears, hair still wet from the shower.  
“Hi guys, so glad your back – I think Olivia really missed you, how was the trip?”  
“Well thanks for watching her, she’s so lucky to have two such great aunties. The trip was perfect, we really enjoyed ourselves – just missed Olivia so much though.” Maura gives me a sympathetic smile.  
“Well, you’ll be glad to know I checked her fever an hour ago and her temp was down to 98F, so almost back to normal – maybe just a 24 hour bug she caught.” Erica says.  
“You both did so great with her, thank you so much. I’m so glad her fever is disappearing now.”  
“No problem at all – hopefully next time we watch her; it’ll be a little more fun for all of us!” Maura laughs then exits the room with Erica to gather all of Olivia’s things.  
“Right Olivia – let’s get you home shall we?” 

Chp41

Bridget and I have been back from our holiday for just over two weeks now, Olivia is now completely fine – thank god and back to her happy little self. It’s Friday night and I’ve had a long, tiring week at work, on Monday I have been volunteered by Marcus to teach an Introduction to Criminal Law class…at Wentworth! I couldn’t believe it when he told me the prison name – of course I phoned Vera and she has given me the go ahead to teach it. The class will run for six weeks, so far the sign-up isn’t great – however Vera seems to think that will drastically change once word gets around that I’m the one taking it. All the girls are still in according to Vera, it’ll be good seeing them, I mean, we used to communicate back and forth, especially Boomer and I, but life just got in the way and we haven’t spoken at all since before Bridget got pregnant.  
“Hey baby, how are you feeling about Monday then? Will it be weird for you? I hope you get on okay.” Bridget appears in the Livingroom, carrying Olivia – having just changed her, she sits down next to me on the sofa.  
“Hey Gidge, I’m feeling fine about it, I guess it’s going to be a bit weird seeing the girls after all this time, I’ve not sent anything in over a year either so I’m not sure what sort of reception to expect, but it will be nice to see them too, I’m not nervous though.” Bridget shifts Olivia over into my arms, I put her on my legs and giggle her a bit, she really enjoys when I do this for some reason.  
“That’s good, I bet they’ll like seeing you – mind you, it’ll be a bit strange considering how close you are now with Vera and Will!” she has a good point there actually.  
“Yeah, I never really thought of that, I guess everyone changes and so do their friends.”  
“Indeed they do, anyway, let’s get Olivia put to bed, you look totally exhausted.” Olivia is now sleeping in the crib in her own room, we finally decided it was time – she’s only across the hall anyway so it’s hardly far.  
“I am knackered! The case this week really took it out of me, bedtime it is then.” I say with a smile as we take Olivia to her crib.  
Monday morning comes around much faster than I would have liked, the weekend was good though – we didn’t do much, just enjoyed each other’s company. I woke up an hour ago – I’ll need to leave half an hour earlier than usual given the extra drive time to Wentworth. For once, Bridget awakened at the same time as me this morning, wanting to double check I’m completely prepared for the day ahead.  
“Gidge, I’ll be find okay? It’s kinda cute when you get all protective and worry about me but really, I’m looking forward to teaching the class – it’ll be a new experience. Oh, and I even get my own desk and everything! I’m going to be just like you when you teach your students!” I say with a smile, then lean in and kiss her passionately on the lips.  
“You know I can’t help but worry sometimes, but I know you’ll be fine – and wow a desk, eh? Sounds fancy babe.” She kisses me this time then I wrap my arms tightly around her and hold her close, not quite ready to leave just yet.  
At 9am I am standing in the carpark of the all too familiar place, I look towards the staff entrance, then make my way towards the gate, ready as I’ll ever be. Once though security, I am led towards Vera’s office by a ‘Screw’ I don’t recognise, ‘hmm probably should call them guards or something now’ I think as I walk.  
“Ah Franky! Good morning – how are you?” Vera walks over and we give each other a quick hug as a greeting.  
“Morning Vera, I’m good thanks – looking forward to teaching the class, should be a good opportunity for the women.” I don’t feel comfortable calling them ‘inmates’ since I was one, I don’t feel like it’s a nice label to be given.  
“Good to hear Franky – okay well here is your ID card, this will let you move about freely, obviously it goes without saying to keep this on your person at all times, we don’t want this ending up in the wrong hands.”  
“Understood loud and clear. When will the class start then?”  
“It will begin at 10am, so I’ll get Will to escort you to the study room and you can get your desk set up and anything else you need to do before the women start to arrive – if you need anything further just say and I’ll see what I can do.”  
“Thanks Vera, I think I should be fine but I’ll bear that in mind. Oh, actually just while I remember, Bridget wanted to invite you and Will round Saturday, just a small dinner party, if you can both make it.” I smile at Vera, just then Will walks in.  
“Will, Franky and Bridget want to invite us round on Saturday, they’re having a dinner party.”  
“Sounds great, I love going round to your house for food Franky, it’s always my favourite!” I laugh as I look at the scowl that’s appeared on Vera’s face.  
“Oh watch out Will, maybe not the best thing to say in front of the fiancé!” Will just starts to nervously laugh and then signals for me to follow him out of the room. I follow him, waving at Vera as I go.  
“So Franky, how is the wife and kid then? It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen them.” I can’t help the wide grin I give Will at his mention of my family.  
“They’re great – Olivia is getting big! Just wait until you see her on Saturday!”  
“How old is she now then?” Will asks, just as we approach the study room.  
“She’s 11 weeks – it’s going in far too fast! She’s even started laughing, it’s so funny when she does it.”  
“Wow that’s amazing – ha can’t wait to see that on Saturday. Anyway, here we are – you can set up in here, it’s H block only for this course, the ones that signed up will be along in 15 minutes or so.  
“Great, thanks Will, if I don’t see you later I’ll see you Saturday, I’ll get Bridget to text with a time.” He nods then walks away, leaving me to it.  
I get notebooks, pencils, textbooks and other essentials set up at each desk space for the impending arrivals – I also get my desk set up for the day with my laptop, connecting it to the projector – well I think I have – this will allow me to bring up various articles and law journals.  
Before I know it, there are women starting to walk into the room, a few spaces start to fill up.  
“Shut the front door! Franky?!” I turn around, smiling as I hear the familiar voice.  
“Sup, Red? Surprised to see me?” Bea walks over to where I stand at my desk, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly agape.  
“What the hell are you doing here? Wait, are you this big hot shot lawyer they’ve been telling us is coming?” Bea says, in even more disbelief.  
“Well, you got the ‘hot’ bit right Red” I wink and we both start to laugh.  
“Still the same Franky I see, what’s it been, like 4 years?”  
“Yeah, just over 4 now – crazy I know, we’ll need to try and catch up more – I’ll ask Vera about visiting H Block – we can call it extra tuition.”  
“Extra tuition? You hitting on me Doyle?” Bea laughs again.  
“Nope, married woman now, remember Red?” I hold up my left hand for emphasis.  
“Shit, yeah I forgot about the psych! Right anyway catch up later, place is getting full, I need to grab a seat.  
Just as I think everyone has arrived, in walks Liz, Doreen and Boomer. Who all stop in their tracks and stare at me.  
“Alright ladies, how’s it going?” I say to them, Boomer is first out of her trance and walks over to me, enveloping me in a giant hug, followed closely by the other two.  
“Franky, you’re the one teaching the class?” Liz asks, in slight shock at seeing me.  
“The one and only – listen, I’m going to try get permission to visit H2 later today and we can all have a proper catch up, but for now I’m sort of on the clock.” I say with an apologetic smile.  
“No worries love, that would be great if you can manage that later.” Liz says, then the three of them take the last remaining seats.  
“Hi everyone, welcome to the Introductory class for Criminal Law – as some of you already know, my name is Franky Westfall-Doyle and I’m a partner at the law firm Strathon&Myers, it’s hoped this first class will give you some basic knowledge on how best to prepare for parole hearings – whether your own or to help others. I’ll be available at some other points out with class hours if anyone needs extra help or has a hearing coming up they would like to prepare for, I would be more than happy to take a look at individual cases.  
Everything in the class is going great, for the first hour we look at the textbooks I brought – looking at some old case law examples – however the more up-to-date ones are on my laptop so that will be the next part of the class.  
“Right everyone, I’m going to get some newer case laws brought up on the projector, I have attached my laptop to it but I’m not the best with technology, so just bear with me for a bit and I’ll try and perceiver.” I smile at them all as I walk over to my desk to put my password into my laptop. It unlocks and I can’t help the smile that forms when I see my background photo appear – one of myself, Bridget and Olivia, a selfie actually – that I took Christmas morning when Olivia was dressed in the adorable elf costume and Bridget and I had silly Santa hats on. I have Olivia snuggled into my left arm, as Bridget holds her little hand and I snap the photo with my free right hand.  
I look up from my laptop, noticing everyone – especially my four former cell buddies are looking up above my head at something. I turn around – only to see the photo I have been staring at is now projected up on the large screen, I guess I’m better with technology than I give myself credit for. ‘Oh well I guess the cat is out the bag’ I think as I look back out at the faces in front of me.  
“Well Franky, I see you and Westfall have been busy! And you’ve gone soft in your old age, cute photo!” Bea is the first to break the silence, a smirk playing on her lips.  
“Umm, yeah you could say that I guess – I was going to tell you guys later on but yep, Bridget and I had a little girl.” I smile at the four recognisable faces.  
“Wait, you’re a mum?” Boomer asks me with wide eyes.  
“I know, who would have ever thought – but it’s true! She’s almost three months old now.”  
“Wow, congrats Franky – come on girls, let her finish teaching the class, we can get details later.” Liz says.  
“Yeah, I’ll see you four later on, thanks Liz.”  
Once class is over for the day, I get the permission needed from Vera to visit H2 for an hour or so, which I’m very thankful to her for.  
“Hey guys, where’s the party?” I ask as I walk into my former home.  
“Franky!” I hear collectively.  
“The one and only, told you guys I’d come visit – how is everyone?”  
“Well, well, she returns!” I might have bloody known she’d be here; damnit I can honestly say I’d forgotten all about her when I arranged this.  
“Kim Chang, still here?” I say coldly to her, trying to focus my attention on the others.  
“I came back for you Franky! Then you just left me in here!”  
“So girls, much happening?” I say, trying to ignore Kim.  
“Not much Franky, we’re all more interested about you, what’s her name then?” Liz asks, as I take a seat with her, Bea, Boomer and Doreen at the table.  
“Why are you lot so interested in her latest fuck? She’s probably some fancy bitch like that one she was screwing while in here!” Kim better watch her mouth, I can feel my rage building but I’m doing what I can to contain it. Bea obviously senses this and steps in.  
“What the hell are you talking about Chang? Shut your mouth, you clearly don’t know a thing. Do you want to tell her Franky?” I silently thank Bea for stepping in.  
“Sure Red, well guys her name is Olivia Sophia Westfall-Doyle, like I said earlier she’s 11 weeks old now and we’re so in love with her.” I can’t help myself, I look straight at Kim as I say the words out loud.  
“Hold up, Westfall? You married that skinny little scrag?!” I stand up so quickly at her words, my seat flies back, Bea is quick to react and pulls me towards her, before I say or do anything I’ll regret.  
“I’ll handle this Franky.” Bea simply states, letting me go and walking over to Kim, who now looks terrified.  
“You! Shut that mouth of yours and leave us alone to catch up, unless you want to have to deal with me later, I suggest you walk away right now, while you still can.” Kim moves fast, practically running out of H2 and down the corridor.  
“Thanks Red, don’t think Bridget would be too happy with me if she found out I got in a fight!”  
“Anyway enough about Kim Chang Franky, how did you have a baby exactly?” Boomer asks and I can’t help but laugh.  
“I just used my dick booms.” I deadpan to her, the other three are trying not to laugh but Boomer is looking at me in shock.  
“Wha- I never knew Franky! You really didn’t seem like you did! How come you never told me.” She’s looking at me and using an accusatory tone. That’s when none of us can help from bursting out laughing.  
“Nah, I’m just messing Booms!”  
“Hey, did you guys no she was lying?!”  
“Of course! You really think we wouldn’t have noticed living so close for years!” Doreen says.  
“Whatever! So how you do it then?” Boomer asks again.  
“Right okay basically, we used my egg, donor sperm and Bridget carried her. That’s it really.” I say, matter of fact this time.  
“Huh, it’s amazing the things they can do now, isn’t it?” Liz replies.  
“It is indeed, we’re just so happy now, I mean I was happy before but this has now made my life complete I think.” I smile at them all.  
“It’s great to hear you’re doing so well on the outside Franky; I think I speak for us all when I say we’re all really happy for you.” Bea says to me and the others agree.  
We talk for a little while longer but then time is up and I need to get home anyway, we say goodbye and I tell them I’ll see them next week for the second class. 

Bridget POV  
I’m standing in the kitchen making dinner for Franky and I, Olivia has been fed and changed, after dinner we will both do bath time with her – Franky doesn’t like to miss putting her to bed each night so I tend to wait until she is home from work. The food is almost ready when I hear the front door open, I’m not sure what to expect from my wife tonight – she has no doubt had an unusual day – being back at Wentworth after all.  
“Gidge – wow that smells amazing! You didn’t have to cook all this baby oh, while I remember Vera and Will are good for Saturday.” Franky says as she comes up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist.  
“Hey – well I wanted to because I love you. That’s good they can make it then, I’ll text the others later.” I say simply, turning to give Franky a welcome kiss on the lips.  
“I missed you today.” She says as she holds me a little tighter – burying her head in the crook of my neck.  
“I missed you too – how was today then?” I ask, as she lifts her head up – now looking me in the eyes.  
“It went better than I thought it would – not gonna lie, it was weird, but good at the same time seeing everyone – well almost everyone.” Franky says, averting her gaze from mine as she says the last part.  
“What is that supposed to mean? Who did you see that you didn’t want to run into?” I ask, genuinely concerned my wife has had a bad encounter.  
“Ugh, I don’t want to go in to any details really, but as I was visiting the girls in H2, Kim Chang walked in, started bad mouthing as usual – luckily Bea put her in her place so it was all good, don’t worry – I promise I didn’t do anything stupid, I held in my anger.” She says, looking back to make eye contact again.  
“Okay, I’m guessing whatever she said had to do with me then?” I ask, already knowing the answer.  
“Yes it did, but Kim Chang is full of shit and I don’t want to talk about it okay? Please, let’s just enjoy dinner then we can give Olivia her bath and put her to bed.”  
“Okay, okay – that’s fine darling. Just one question though, will you be okay going back for the next five weeks of the course? After the incident I mean?”  
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Kim can say whatever she likes, she’s just jealous anyway, at the end of the day I get to come home to my perfect little family and she’s locked in a cell, I’d be envious as well.”  
“That’s all I wanted to know – just be careful, we know how scheming she can be.” I can’t help but think of everything that went down while Franky was still inside, after all it was her accusations at the time that basically got me fired.  
“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Franky says, I can tell she’s thinking the same as me.  
“Oh, by the way Gidge, you should have seen the girls faces when they found out about Olivia! They knew about you from my letters, but I never told them about her. I had my laptop hooked up to the projector and that selfie I took on Christmas morning is my laptop screensaver and it got projected on the big screen, their faces were priceless!” Franky can hardly tell me because she’s started to laugh.  
“Oh god, I bet that was a shock for them! Did they even believe you were her mum?” I say, imaging the faces of Franky’s former cell buddies.  
“Well they seemed to believe me, I think they were just shocked by how much my wife has changed since I got out.”  
“Hmm, probably just surprised, from top dog to top mummy in four short years, eh?” we’re both laughing hard now.  
“Ha! Yeah that’s probably exactly what they were thinking! Good one babe. Anyway, I’m starving, is the food ready?”  
“Yes it is! Go sit down and I’ll bring it over.” I give Franky a quick kiss then sends her to the dining table as I return to the kitchen to plate up.  
Half an hour later, we have Olivia’s small bathtub set up in the Livingroom in front of the fire. Franky is holding her in it while I was her with a sponge.  
“She’s a bit squirmy tonight Gidge, I’m getting soaked here!” Franky moans as Olivia’s little hand hits the water again, sending more water in Franky’s direction.  
“Well babe, I did say you should take your shirt off, maybe you’ll listen to me more in the future.” I say, smirking at my wife as I notice just how wet her light grey shirt now is.  
“Gidge, can you just hurry up please, god if I wanted my own bath I would have had one!” I can’t help but laugh at how over-dramatic Franky is being over some water.  
“Okay, okay I’m done – take her out Franky.” My wife is quick to lift the now fully crying Olivia out of the tub – wrapping her in a fluffy white towel.  
“Right, I’ll dry her off – you want to go get her sleep onesie and then we can get her in the crib.” Franky says and I leave the room to get it.  
We get Olivia all ready to be put down for the night, she’s still being fussy but Franky is good at calming her – she is sat with Olivia in the rocking chair, trying to soothe her.  
“Don’t know what’s up with her tonight, I’ve done all the usual but nothing seems to be working.” Franky looks exhausted – it’s now after 9.30pm and she’s been up since 6am.  
“Here, give her to me Franky – you go get ready for bed and I’ll come in once she’s down for the night, okay?” Franky stands, handing Olivia over to me in the process and I now sit down in the rocking chair.  
“Okay, hopefully she’ll fall asleep soon.”  
Twenty minutes later, I walk in to the bedroom having finally gotten Olivia to fall asleep. Franky is fast asleep, hugging her pillow tightly. I get changed quickly, then slip into bed beside my wife, she must sense me joining her because soon enough, a strong arm comes around my waist, holding me protectively – this is by far one of my favourite parts of the day.  
Chp42

Sunday night comes around fast, yet again the weekend passes in a flash and I’m preparing for work again in the morning. It was actually quite an eventful weekend, compared to last weekend anyway. The dinner party we held last night was successful, all of our friends attended – Vera and Will announced some exciting news – they have finally set a date for their wedding, they’ve been engaged for over two years – I think most of us were thinking they would never get round to it! It’s going to be a summer wedding – July 23rd – which is a Saturday, and they want Olivia to be a flower girl – I did give them a bemused look at this – unsure how that would work at her young age, but Vera said they’d figure it out.  
“What’s got that ‘deep in thought’ look plastered on your face babe?” Bridget asks, joining me in bed, having just put Olivia down.  
“Just thinking about the weekend – Will and Vera finally setting a date, and also trying to picture how Olivia will be a flower girl at like eight months old?” Bridget let’s out a chuckle at this.  
“At least they’ve finally got it all set! I was thinking about that too; she definitely won’t be walking so I guess someone will need to carry her – maybe a bridesmaid? Depends who Vera asks I suppose.” I nod as Bridget speaks.  
“Yeah, that’ll probably make most sense – you think she’ll as you? I can’t really think of anyone else if I’m being honest.”  
“It never really crossed my mind Franky – but yeah, I guess she might ask me, or maybe Maura, she won’t even bother to consider you though!” I put on my best mock hurt face at Bridget’s words.  
“Oh come on darling! There is no way on this earth Vera would get you in a bridesmaid dress! You’d have a better chance of being asked to be Will’s ‘best man’.” She laughs and I swipe playfully at her upper arm.  
“Yeah, you may have a valid point there actually. No way I would wear some puffy bridesmaid dress – because knowing my luck it would be the ugliest one possible!”  
“You’re right – guess we’ll wait and see if I get asked then, oh I kind of hope I do, just so I can get revenge on Vera, thinking she was so funny hiring that male stripper!” I can’t help but burst out laughing at this, remembering the photos I was shown afterwards – where my poor then wife-to-be looked absolutely horrified as this guy was thrusting his pelvis into her face.  
“Oh god! That was hilarious though! She really got you good with that one!” the face my wife gives me next is enough for me to understand the conversation on that particular topic is now over.  
“Well Gidge, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get to sleep, another early start tomorrow for the drive to Wentworth. After class I have a few women who want to meet with me to discuss applications to the parole board, and then also a few that have been approved for a hearing and want to prepare.” I say, turning on my side to face my wife.  
“Sounds like you’re going to have a busy day then. Okay, well if I’m not awake when you’re leaving be sure to wake me so I can kiss you goodbye, okay?” Bridget says, also turning onto her side, so we are now facing each other.  
“Yes baby, of course I will – anyway, goodnight, I love you.” I say, leaning forward to capture Bridget’s lips in a quick kiss.  
“Hmm, goodnight Franky, I love you too – so much.” We smile sleepily at each other before drifting off. 

After class finishes the next day, I am escorted to Vera’s office – where I am told I will receive the list of women’s names who are wanting to meet with me.  
“Franky – come in, please take a seat.” I oblige and sit down, opposite Vera.  
“Okay, I have the list here – so far four want your help with applications and two are up for parole within the next month and could really use your help with character statements.” I nod at Vera as she hands me over the list.  
“Right that sounds fine – I don’t recognise the names who want help with applications.” I turn the bit of paper over.  
“Boomer’s up for parole? That’s great – I’m so pleased for her. Where’s the other name Vera? I thought you said there were two in the next month.” I ask, clearly only seeing Boomer’s name.  
“Ah, well yes – I left the name off because I’m unsure whether or not you will want to give her your assistance.” Well I can’t say I was expecting that answer from Vera.  
“Well, it’s kinda part of the job – and I agreed with my law firm I would do what I could to help, so – who is it I’d need to work with here?” I already have a feeling who the name is, and if I’m right – it will prove to be a challenge.  
“It’s Kim Chang, Franky – I know you had a thing with her back in the day, and Bea mentioned what happened with her last week, so I would completely understand if you didn’t want to undertake this.” Vera says, giving me a sympathetic smile.  
“Okay – well I mean – it’s my job Vera, and as much as I really can’t stand to look at her – I made the choice when I accepted this role to help everyone, I can’t exactly discriminate against her because I slept with her on occasion.” I say, as Vera blushes at my remark.  
“Oh well, I mean If you’re sure – I will set up all the appointments with each of them – I’ll get you an office space as well so the sessions are private.”  
“Sounds good to me, can you fit any of them in today then? Might as well start since I’m already here.”  
“I can set you up with the women wanting to apply for parole, I’m thinking do that as a group session first to go over everything briefly – then you can take them individually at a later date to learn more details about each case, and help them put forward valid reasons for a hearing to be granted.”  
“Yup, I’d say that’s a good plan of action – what about Booms and Kim?”  
“I can get you in to see ‘Boomer’ this afternoon at 3pm, Chang will need to wait until next week – she’s on kitchen duty.”  
“No problem – well I best get started then, I’ll see you later on Vera.” I say, standing up and exiting the Governor’s office.  
Arriving at the office I have been given for the sessions, I can’t help but laugh – my wife’s old office, really? Stepping inside, I notice the furniture is the same as it was when I attended my sessions with her, it’s almost comforting in a way – it was during the times spent in here that we first started falling for each other. Since I knew I would get my own space in the administrative wing, I brought a few photos for my desk to make it seem a bit more personal – one of Bridget and I a few years ago when we first started dating, I have my arms wrapped around her from behind, holding her close to me. The second is one I snapped about 20 minutes after Olivia was born, the look on my wife’s face is filled with pure, unconditional love as she looks down at the tiny bundle in her arms. Lastly, I have one of the three of us, taken just last week by Bridget’s mum when she was round, it is the first photo we have where you can see Olivia laughing - it is so adorable. I’m brought out of my thoughts by a knock at the door, it’s Will with the four women I am waiting for.  
“Hi Franky – so these four here are the ones applying for parole, I understand this is a chance for them to get some extra info about the process, yeah?”  
“That’s right Mr Jackson, hopefully this will benefit the four of you, and if afterwards you want extra help, you can come and see me individually.” I motion for the four of them to take seats, as few extra have been brought in to accommodate them.  
“Well – I’ll leave you to it, be back in an hour to take them back to H Block.” I nod at Will as he leaves, closing the door behind him.  
“So – obviously all of your cases are different – so I’ll explain the general steps taken to gain a parole hearing and answer any questions you might have.” I look at the four of them, none of whom seem very forthcoming with communicating. ‘I have a feeling this is going to be a long hour.’  
However – about 45 minutes in to the session the lockdown alarm sounds – Will appears back at the door, explaining he needs to take them back to the cells. I hope nothing too serious has happened, it’s not like lockdowns are an everyday occurrence, usually only for major incidents. I decide just to stay put in the office, I figure I’ll be called once everything settles. My mobile starts to vibrate on the desk, I look down to see Bridget calling me – weird, she knows I’m here today.  
“Hey Gidge, wha-” I get cut off by my wife’s frantic voice.  
“Franky! Where are you? Are you safe?” What the hell?  
“Umm yeah, I’m fine – I’ve been given your old office at the prison actually, it’s the exac-” I’m cut off again by Bridget.  
“You haven’t heard? Apparently some inmates have started a huge fire in the yard and taken some guards as hostages, I’m not sure how it’s happened – can you get out? Or is the administration block at least secure? It’s all over the news, there’s a helicopter above, showing live footage.”  
“Wait, what? Umm well the lockdown alarm sounded like 20 minutes ago and Will came to escort the clients I was seeing to their cells but I thought I’d just stay in the office, I never knew all of this was happening.” Oh shit, is all I keep thinking.  
“Yeah well like I said it’s all over the news, the yard is a complete mess, it looks bad Franky. The reports about the guards are unconfirmed – but if it’s anything like last time, you know as well as I do it’s possible they’ve taken some as leverage.”  
“Right – okay what should I do? I mean, I don’t really want to be a sitting duck here.” I say to Bridget, starting to get increasingly worried.  
“I really don’t know baby – just please be careful – can you get to the exit maybe? Your card will hopefully still work.”  
“I can try – I think I’d rather move anyway than just sit here waiting to be found. I better get a move on, I’ll phone or text you in a little bit, hopefully I’ll be out by then. I love you and Olivia so much.”  
“Stay safe darling – we love you so much too – just get out of there, okay?” Bridget’s voice is starting to break; she’s clearly trying to hold it together for me.  
“I promise you I will, I’ve got to go now, bye.” I hang up the phone and move immediately to the door – I open it ever so slightly and peer out into the corridor – it’s clear for now. The next thing I need to do is make a decision – do I turn left, heading towards the exit – and the safety outside the prison gates, or do I turn right – heading towards the cells and yard, and try and help. I make my decision – the one I know is best for the people who I love most, I start to walk to the prison exit, suddenly I stop in my tracks, when I hear a blood curdling scream – coming from the direction of the cells. 

Chp43

“Shit, shit, shit!” I’m stood in the middle of the corridor, mentally debating with myself what I should do. A part of me just wants to get the hell out and return home to my family, but the other part of me is aware there are also people behind those metal doors that I care about and from the various sounds I’m hearing – they could be in a lot of danger right now.  
“Fuck – I’m sorry Bridget, but I can’t just leave them.” I say out loud, to know one other than myself.  
“Here goes nothing.” I again say out loud. I start to make my way towards the set of large metal doors, key card in hand. I don’t see anyone at all so far, I swipe the key card and let myself in to the restricted area, where all the cells are. I can hear yet more screams and people shouting – I can also start to smell smoke, which must be coming from the yard like Bridget said. As I turn the familiar corner on my way to H2, women I don’t recognise run past me, heading in the direction of the yard. I approach by former cells and I feel instantly relieved when I see Liz and Boomer.  
“Liz, Booms – what the hell is going on?” I ask them as I walk closer.  
“Franky? What are you doing here? It’s not safe!” Boomer yells at me.  
“I know that Booms, I was in my office but heard screams, I couldn’t just leave – is it true they’ve taken guards as hostages? Who’s behind all this?”  
“Apparently they have, not sure who though. Juice and her crew – she just made a surprise move on Bea, no one seen it coming – but it’s gotten so far out of hand.” Liz says to me.  
“Shit – right okay, and where is Queen Bea then? She in the yard?”  
“We don’t know Franky; we didn’t want involved this time around. Booms is up for parole and I’m getting too old for all this carry on!”  
“Okay, okay – well I need to go help, try and do something at least – it’s carnage in here! I think I’ll check the yard – you guys either stay here or if a guard comes follow them outside to a safe area okay? Fire seems contained in the yard for now, but who knows how long that’ll last.”  
“Be careful Franky.” Boomer says, with a worried expression on her face.  
“Yeah, you’ve got that wife of yours and that beautiful little girl to think about – don’t go being the hero this time around!” Liz warns.  
“I know, really I do – but they’re my friends now as well – Vera and Will, even Red, I need to make sure they’re okay.” I say, beginning to walk away.  
“Okay, watch yourself Franky.” Boomer says as I disappear from sight.  
As I near the yard, the smoke gets thicker in the corridors, it brings me back to that night with ‘The Freak’, where Bea and I saved Joshua, then subsequently Bea saved my life. I finally reach outside and there’s really only one word to describe the scene – chaos. I was involved in many prison fights, and on occasion a couple of riots, but I’ve never seen anything on this scale before. The yard is much emptier now than it would have been earlier, most people have probably bailed to escape the flames. Trying to see through the thick smoke is hard – I can hear a chopper overhead – then suddenly, my eye catches a familiar figure in the distance, I spot Bea, it looks like she’s kneeling next to someone, trying to lift them maybe.  
“Red, Red! What the fuck is happening?” I scream as I run the best I can in her direction.  
“Franky! Why are you here? The class finished ages ago!” I get closer, stepping over mattresses, shelving and other things that have been used to burn.  
“I had a session to help with parole appeal-’” Holy shit.  
“Red! What the fuck, is she okay? We need to get her out of here!” I scream at Bea when I realise the person on the ground is Vera.  
“I’m trying Franky, have been for a while now but only make it so far – I think she’s hit her head and probably has smoke inhalation as well.” Bea says  
“Shit! Right, I’ve got my key card, let’s try and move her to one of the emergency exits over the other side of the yard, might be able to get out if we head through the admin block.”  
“You and Vinegar Tits friends now or something?” Bea asks, clearly surprised by the state I’m getting myself in to.  
“Well, her and Will are practically god parents to Olivia, that’s why, Bridget and I are really close friends with them Red.”  
“Huh, okay fair enough, come on then – you grab on side, I’ll grab the other and let’s move as fast as possible to that gate, okay? No messing around with these maniacs running around.”  
“Yeah, let’s aim for that gate there, it’s closest – if we at least get to the opposite side of the fence we’ll be in the walkway – hopefully no one’s breached that yet.” We lift up Vera and run as fast as possible to the gate, I have my key card in hand, getting prepared for once we reach it. We are within about ten feet when I feel a searing pain in my side, I try to ignore it and focus on the task in hand, my legs start to wobble a bit, but we make it to the gate – I swipe the card – nothing happens. I repeat the process five more times until finally we hear the ‘click’ and are able to push through it. The gate shuts behind us and we drop down on to the ground of the walkway, that connects different parts of the prison – and on a good day should be prisoner free.  
“Wow shit, I really didn’t think we were gonna make it for a minute back there! I don’t even know what all this crap is Franky, I wasn’t prepared, none of my girls were – no one’s made a move in so long, guess I got a bit complacent but shit that was intense, glad you turned up when you did, I must say!”  
“Red-” I say through gritted teeth.  
“Franky? What the? There’s blood on your jumper, did you get hit?! Shit, let me take a look.” With Bea’s help I pull up my jumper and tank top up for her to inspect the wound. I hear her let out a small gasp.  
“Shit, you’ve been shived, it looks quite deep, but judging from where it is – I don’t think it’ll cause major damage, you’ll be fine okay?” Bea tears a part of her t-shirt off and uses it to hold against by side and instructs me to keep it there.  
“I think it just looks worse Franky-” suddenly we hear my phone vibrate in my pocket, I signal for Bea to answer it, since I’m now trying to stop the blood loss myself.  
“Hello – Franky’s phone.” Bea says upon answering, then puts the phone on speaker.  
“Oh hello, this is Bridget – Franky’s wife – who is this?”  
“It’s Bea, Bea Smith. I have you on speaker phone, Franky is right here, we just got caught up in a little something and we’re taking care of that right now. We have Governor Bennet with us as well, she has a head injury and possible smoke inhalation, we’ll be moving soon out of the yard walkway, towards the admin buildings and then hopefully through an exit there. Can you make sure there is medical assistance on standby Bridget?”  
“Gidge, I’m okay – I should be able to help Bea carry Vera out of here, I’ll be fine okay sweetie? I just have a little flesh wound, nothing I can’t handle. Make sure you do what Bea has said, I love you but we need to go now.” I hear her take a deep breath on the other end of the phone.  
“Okay – yes, I will – I love you too, please be careful – all of you. I can’t lose you Franky.” I start to feel my emotions get the better of me as well.  
“Bridget, I won’t let that happen – you have my word, okay?”  
“Thanks Bea, okay you all be safe, I’ll be waiting for you Franky.” Bea hangs up.  
“Think you’ll be able to help carry her? We need to get out of here and get to medics asap.” I pull myself up, it hurts a lot but to be fair, I’ve probably had worse.  
“What’s a little stab wound, eh?” I say, again clenching my teeth.  
“Let’s go then.” We pick up Vera again, this time making our way towards the administration block, I swipe my card through each gate and metal door as we go, thankfully it still appears to work.  
“Did you see Will at all?” I ask Bea as we walk.  
“I saw him briefly just after it all kicked off, he was in the yard – think he was evacuating inmates or something, I’m not sure.”  
“Shit – well let’s just focus on her right now, if he was doing that and went outside there’s a chance he wouldn’t be allowed back in to help.” We’re now nearing an emergency exit used by staff.  
“Through that way Franky, look I think she’s starting to come around.” I watch as Vera’s eyes start to open ever so slightly.  
“Vera, can you hear me? It’s Franky – we’re getting you to safety, okay?” Her eyes find mine and I smile at her.  
“Franky? What? Where?”  
“Hey, try not to talk or move too much, we think you might have a concussion.” Bea says, Vera looks at her – surprise on her face when she realises the person helping me.  
“That’s us almost there, after this door we should reach the external fence.”  
“Looks like both are already open for us.” Bea points out. Not a minute later we emerge from the prison – immediately putting Vera down once clear of the building, both gasping for breath.  
“Holy shit – why always us Red?” I say, panting and trying not to pass out from the increased amount of pain I’m now feeling.  
“God knows Franky! Someone must think we make a pretty good team.” I nod in agreement.  
“Can we get help over here! Come on – we need medics now!” Bea yells – I look around for the first time and notice the hundreds of pairs of eyes that are now on us. Then I notice the familiar faces of Liz, Boomer, Doreen and Will.  
“Will! Will, get over here!” I shout as loud as I can manage.  
“Franky! We thought you left – oh god, what happened, Vera? Are you all okay?” Will crouches down next to us.  
“Yes, Franky and Bea saved me, I’d be dead if it wasn’t for them.” Vera says, weakly.  
“Thank you both so much, we didn’t know who was still in – it’s crazy right now, I’m just glad you’re all okay.” Will says, before leaning down and kissing Vera’s forehead.  
“Franky! Franky! Out of my way – I need to find my wife!” I hear this coming from somewhere behind me, just as the paramedics start to swarm us.  
“Bridget – she’s over here!” Bea calls out for me.  
“Oh thank god! Don’t scare me like that ever again Franky, I thought we were going to lose you.” She is carrying Olivia, rather awkwardly in her arms as she tries to get close to me.  
“Give Olivia to Bea for a minute baby, I want a proper hug from my wife after that.” Bridget looks to Bea expectantly, she seems reluctant at first – but let’s be honest, who could deny having a hold of my daughter?  
“Okay, I’ve got her. Hi Olivia – well aren’t you just as cute as the photo I saw of you.” Bea says to the baby, as Bridget is now able to carefully wrap her arms around my waist, avoiding the injured area.  
“I’m never leaving you, you’re stuck with me forever Gidge, both of you are.”  
A few minutes later the paramedics load myself and Vera into ambulances. Bea hands Olivia back over to Bridget, and my wife and daughter follow the ambulance in the Mercedes. 

Chp44

Franky was only required to spend one night in the hospital after being injured at Wentworth, Vera is still in for observation since she sustained a head injury - more as a precaution though – thankfully both of them will make a full recovery. The Doctors have told Franky to take it easy for a few weeks, so as not to aggravate the injury further, they said she was very lucky no major organs were punctured by the shiv.  
“Gidge, where’s Olivia? I want to play with her.” Franky calls from our bedroom – where she has been in bed for the past 48 hours.  
“Honey, remember I told you last night – my parents picked her up so you could rest properly and so I could focus all my attention on getting you better.” I say, approaching the bed, sitting down and taking Franky’s hand in my own, slightly smaller one.  
“Oh – yeah right, sorry these pain meds are making me a bit loopy I think.”  
“Doctors said that would probably be a side effect, I can have Olivia brought back tonight if you’re feeling up to it, but I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind her spending another night with them.”  
“Can you get them to bring her? After everything that’s happened I just want both my girls close to me.”  
“Sure thing – I’ll give them a call in a little bit then.” I say, kissing Franky on the cheek.  
“Gidge? Umm, about what happened? I mean at Wentworth, I’m so, so sorry – I never thought I’d get hurt.” Franky says, tears starting to run down her face.  
“Well – we do need to talk about that Franky – but when you’re feeling up for it, I’m just glad it wasn’t more serious, I don’t think I would cope with Olivia on my own.” Now it’s me with tears in my eyes.  
“I’m ready to talk Gidge. I, I want to explain why I went in there okay?” Her eyes are pleading with me to let her justify her actions.  
“You might be ready, but I don’t think I’m ready to hear what could possibly have been more important than Olivia and I to you Franky, your family! Your wife and three month old daughter!” I raise my voice, stand from the bed and head to the bathroom, where I slam the door behind me. I cry as I slide down the back of the door, the emotion I have been holding in, trying to be strong for my family has finally caught up with me.  
“Bridget? Honey – please let me in, I’m sorry, I’m an insensitive idiot.” Franky only ever calls me by my actual name when I’m upset or angry at her – I guess my current state is a mix of the two. I slowly move away from the door so Franky can open it.  
“I don’t know what to say Bridget – all I can say for now, if you’re not ready, is that I’m sorry for putting you through all of that – you and Olivia deserve better from me.” Franky sits down next to me on the floor, hissing in discomfort as she does, and wraps an arm around my shoulder. I sink into her, it’s hard to remain angry, especially when she’s seen as a ‘hero’ again by so many people, just like last time with Joshua.  
“No Franky, Olivia and I are lucky to have you. I think I’ve changed my mind entirely, I don’t want to know any of the details of Monday – let’s just get Olivia back from my parents, I think we could both use cuddles with our daughter right about now.”  
“That sounds like a great idea Gidge, I’ve missed her a lot.”  
“I know, same here – why don’t you give my parents a call and ask them to bring her back, I’ll get myself cleaned up and more presentable again.” I say as Franky looks at me, concern still etched on her face.  
“Okay, I’ll do that, will you be okay baby?”  
“I think I will be, yes – now go on, the sooner you make the call the sooner we get our daughter home.”  
Two hours later, Olivia is home with us – I’m making dinner as Franky cradles her on the sofa, she looks so content with her.  
“Gidge – she keeps laughing, it’s the cutest thing ever.” I turn around and smile at Franky from the kitchen.  
“Aww I know, she’s been doing that a lot lately – everyone keeps commenting on it and saying how adorable she is.”  
“Well they’re not wrong.”  
“No they’re not darling, well dinner is ready – you want to put her in the bouncer while we eat?” I watch as Franky very slowly stands from the sofa – clearly still in a lot of pain, as she then bends down to strap Olivia in securely.  
“That’s her all set up, we can get her ready for bed once we’re finished with dinner.” Franky says, walking to the kitchen island and taking a seat.  
“You mean I’ll get her ready Franky; you’re supposed to be taking it easy – remember?” my wife just rolls her eyes at my words.  
“I just feel like I’m leaving you to do everything baby.”  
“You know I don’t mind – the more you rest, the quicker you’ll be back to your normal self.” I give Franky a kiss, simultaneously putting the food down in front of us.  
“This looks delicious – you’re the best.” She kisses me again in return.  
“I made your favourite, I knew you would like it.” We sit in relative silence until we are both finished, Franky then insists she go and get Olivia ready for bed since I’m tidying up.  
A little while later, I am on my way to the nursery to say goodnight to my daughter when I hear Franky’s voice, I peer in the door, and I’m greeted by the sight of my wife gently rocking Olivia back and forth, while telling, what I presume is a bedtime story.  
“So then, as I leave the office, I start to walk down to the exit, but I hear someone scream – I just couldn’t leave knowing people were getting hurt – so I made the decision to go into the cell blocks. I know your mummy is mad at me, and I don’t blame her – if she did what I did, I would probably feel the same, but you know what Olivia? The whole time I was there – helping Bea get Vera out, the only thing that kept me going was knowing I had you and mummy to go home to, because I love you both more than you’ll ever know, or I could ever show either of you – and I’m so sorry I got hurt, but I’ll be fine – and your aunt Vera will be okay as well, little girl – now get some sleep, I know you can probably sense our stress and that’s not fair – so sleep Olivia, me and your mummy love you so, so much.” I have tears streaming down my face, Franky kisses our daughters head, then moves to stand up and put her into her crib – this is when she notices me.  
“Oh – hey babe, how long have you been standing there?” she asks, rather sheepishly.  
“Long enough I guess – just know Franky, I’m not mad, I was just so worried about you okay? More than anything I’m just glad you’re safe and back home with us – and thanks to you and Bea, Vera will get out of the hospital tomorrow.” I walk over to Franky, planting a kiss on her lips and take Olivia from her for a quick cuddle before putting her down for the night.  
“Gidge, what do you think will happen to Bea? I mean, she’s got what like 20 years left? But she’s literally saved my ass twice now, a baby and the Governor – you think there could be any grounds for an appeal to get less time?” I turn to face Franky again, truth be told, I had wondered this myself. 

“Well – I’m not too sure Franky, I mean she is in for murder, if it was a lesser charge then I would say yes, but it’s difficult – I guess there could be a chance to reduce it slightly – she would need Vera and a psychologist to vouch for her though, before it could be taken any further – maybe talk to Bea first, see if she would want to go down that path?” Franky is nodding her head, clearly trying to take everything in that I’m saying.  
“Okay, well I need to finish the course at Wentworth – you are alright with that, yeah?” I nod at her; I can’t very well ban a grown woman from doing her job.  
“Right, good – well I’ll talk to her and Vera when I’m back in two weeks – hopefully Vera will be back by then, I’ve still got Booms and Kim Chang to sort out as well.”  
“Well, just do your best darling, I’m sure Bea will appreciate the effort anyway – just remember – you don’t work for the department of corrections, Marcus will expect you back in the office in four weeks now and I don’t want you stressed out.” I say, as my wife pulls me in closer to her.  
“I know baby, don’t worry okay? The job will always come second to our family.” I lean in and kiss her, hoping with every part of me that she means that.  
“Okay – well let’s head to bed, you must be exhausted by now.”

FRANKY POV  
Just under two weeks later, I find myself walking back through the gates of Wentworth again – today is Valentine’s day so after I finish here, I plan on treating my wife to a lovely evening. We have decided just to stay at home this year with Olivia – since it’s a day for the one you love, Bridget and I both now have two loves since Olivia came along, so it only seems fitting for the three of us to be together. Today, I am due to see Boomer – discussing her upcoming parole hearing – and also Bea, we spoke on the phone last week so she’s coming to my office this afternoon. I don’t have a meeting with Kim until next week, which is probably a good thing, I don’t think I could deal with any of her shit today.  
“Franky! How are you doing now? I phoned last night but Bridget said you were bathing Olivia.”  
“Oh, hi Will! Yeah she mentioned you called, I’m doing great – almost completely back to good now, how are you and Vera? Is she back yet?”  
“Glad to hear that, we’re doing good – it’s her first day back today as well, I’m sure you’ll see her later on.”  
“Yeah, I’ll drop by her office later – I’m meeting Boomer and Red today, so I better get to my office, see you later Will.” I leave to walk to my office, I’m only at my desk for twenty minutes when there’s a knock at my door and Bea appears.  
“Oh – hey, I thought our appointment was in the afternoon?”  
“Hi – yeah it was, Booms hasn’t finished writing her statement up, we didn’t think you’d mind if we swapped.”  
“No, that’s fine – take a seat and we can start.” I say with a smile, signalling to one of the chairs.  
“So Franky – what exactly is it you think you can do for me here? I mean, come on – I have a long stretch here, and if I remember correctly that’s with no chance of parole.”  
“Well, I was talking to Bridget about this, we think because of your actions we could maybe get them to at least revoke the no parole sanction that’s in place, now I’m not saying this would benefit you immediately – but in a couple of years there could be a chance you’d make parole, I just really want to know if it’s something you would want to pursue, before we start looking at your case properly.”  
“Umm – well yeah, why not I guess, it’s not like I have anything to lose anyway.”  
“Exactly – okay, well I can be your lawyer, Vera is on your side for this after what you did for her – and my wife has kindly agreed to be your psych, so once you do sessions with her, all going well she can sign you off – those can start in the next few months – she’s going to work part-time after her maternity leave is up.”  
“Sounds like you’ve thought it all through – what do I need to do right now then, anything?”  
“Well, try and stay out of trouble, maybe start work on your character statement as well, okay?”  
“Okay, good – well I better get back Franky – I’m on laundry duty.” I smirk at hearing this.  
“Well, make sure no one has any ‘accidents’ around the steam press Red, that wouldn’t look too good on the application.”  
“I’ll bear that in mind – see you around Franky.”  
“See ya Red.”  
Later that night, about 7pm, I’m finally pulling up to the house – I didn’t want to be late on Valentine’s day, but I had so much to catch up on after two weeks off. I have two-dozen red roses, take-out from Bridget’s favourite place and a teddy bear with a big love heart on it for Olivia.  
“Hey girls I’m home.” I call out from the hallway.  
“Franky, we’re doing some tummy time in the Livingroom.” I walk in and they both look so adorable, they’re lying on their fronts, Olivia flailing her arms and legs and my gorgeous wife copying her moves.  
“Babe, that is just so cute!” I laugh as I crouch down next to them, roses and teddy bear in hand.  
“One for my first love.” I say, handing the roses to Bridget, while giving her a kiss on the lips.  
“And here’s something for my second love.” I say, scooping Olivia off the floor and into my arms, putting the teddy on her tummy and letting her grab it.  
“Aww Franky, you are just too sweet! Thank you baby.”  
“No problem Gidge, you both deserve it – I got food from your favourite Thai place as well.” I say with a smile, earning me another kiss.  
“You really are the best.”

Chp45 

“Can you freakin’ believe that actually happened? I mean, I know we joked about it a few weeks ago – but oh my god, he actually asked you!” I say to Franky, while staring at her in disbelief.  
“I know Gidge! Well their wedding will be a family affair now! You as maid of honour, Olivia as flower girl and now me as best man? Or woman? Ah, technicalities, anyway – it’ll be a good day, and we both get to plan the parties!” Franky seems very excited about all of this. Will officially asked her tonight at dinner – said it was the least he could do for saving his fiancés life, of course Franky down played it at first, but as the hours have gone on she won’t stop talking about it.  
“It will be a great day Franky, only a few months away now – do you think I should get a female stripper for Vera, you know, just to return the favour? at least that way I’ll get to enjoy the show – which only seems fair” I wink at her.  
“Nope! No, no, no – I don’t want my wife looking at other naked women.” I look at her, my signature ‘not impressed’ look on my face.  
“Hmm, interesting…does that mean you, Will and the guys won’t be going to a strip club for his bachelor party?”  
“Umm, well I mean I’ll have to go – but it won’t be through choice, it’s his night after all.”  
“Yeah right! You’d jump at the chance! And I don’t have a problem with it – just no touching – or getting a lap dance! Don’t think I don’t know what you did on yours!” I raise my eyebrows at her expectantly – but she just looks like a deer caught in the headlights.  
“Wh-what? Who told you about that?! They said they’d never tell – and I only sat through about half the lap dance…” my facial expression must give me away.  
“And, you weren’t being serious, were you?” She gives me an uneasy smile – clearly unsure what my reaction will be.  
“No, I wasn’t, but thanks for filling me in – sounds like you had a great night!”  
“It was okay. I must say though, I preferred that one night you did the whole striptease/lap dance for me – it was super-hot babe.” She gives me a wink.  
“Uh huh, nice recovery darling – but you’ll need to be extra good to get that little show again.” It’s my turn to wink at her, as I walk away – swaying my hips slightly more than necessary. I make my way into the Livingroom to fetch Olivia from her bouncer.  
“Hi Olivia – what’s made you cry sweetheart, are you needing changed? Or was it just so mummy would come pick you up?” I say, cooing at the little girl in my arms, at 4 months old she’s getting so big, she even started to roll over the other day – which was a first.  
“She just wanted your attention Gidge, you cave to her too easily. I was reading an article the other day, it said we should be leaving her for longer before picking her up, self-soothing or something they called it.” Franky says walking over to us and stroking through the small amount of hair on the baby’s head.  
“Yes Franky – I am a psychologist remember? I know all about self-soothing, but I don’t want to use such a technique with our daughter – I think it’s a bit cruel leaving her to cry herself out, maybe when she’s a bit older and understands but not at the age, I won’t do it.” I say with a leave of conviction that takes Franky by surprise.  
“Okay, okay – you’re the expert, sorry it was just a suggestion because I read the article – but you know best Gidge – I trust you to know what’s best for our daughter.” Franky says, placing a kiss to my forehead.  
“I’m sorry Franky, I value your opinion on these things too, I just really hate that particular idea.” I offer a small, apologetic smile.  
“Nah, it’s fine – now let me have my daughter please, because I think your instinct was right – she smells bad and will probably now need a bath.” I laugh as I hand Olivia over, Franky is such a natural with her, it truly is one of the most amazing sights.  
“Well she’s due her bath time soon anyway, why don’t you get her stripped off and I’ll grab the tub and get it filled.”  
“Sounds like a plan.” Franky says as she walks with Olivia in her arms, to in front of the fire – where we always set up the bath.  
“How can it be march 1st already? It doesn’t feel like any time since Christmas and new year, I go back to work next month Franky!”  
“Wow calm down Gidge! And you have the option to go back – you don’t need to actually go – plus it’s not until the 24th, you’ve got almost two months!” Franky replies, I must admit I am being slightly dramatic.  
“Okay, valid point – well what do you think? Should I go back then or take another 6 months unpaid? I know I’m going to consult at Wentworth – but I’ve already told Vera that’s a favour and nothing more.” Franky and I discussed this, and we decided to offer our services free of charge as favours rather than have Vera try to find money in the budget for us.  
“Well, that’s really up to you babe, the whole Bea thing might take a while, if you took the 6 months unpaid then at least you could give that all of your professional attention – and not feel obligated by the uni – I support you whatever, just remember, it’s not like we need the money right now, we’ll be fine on my salary and overtime from Strathon&Myers.”  
“Good point, well I’ll have a proper think in the next few days, I’d like to inform the principle as soon as possible so she can continue to get cover for my classes if need be, most will be finishing up for the semester in June anyway come to think of it.” I say, realising the students will be off then for six weeks.  
“I’m sure they’re all settled with the temporary lecturer by now anyway, you only had these particular classes for what? Two months before you finished up to have Olivia.”  
“Yeah about that I think – right anyway before we got into this rather heavy conversation we were going for a walk, remember? So let’s get Olivia and head out.” I say, as Franky walks to the nursery to get our daughter.  
One week later I find myself in the office that I used to accommodate, but it now belongs to my wife. Franky has already done her weekly sessions, Boomer and Kim Chang included, I’m told Kim is now being on her best behaviour, which is either because Bea has had a word, or she has only now realised she needs Franky’s help to get out of here. Franky has just gone to get some coffees before we meet with Bea, after Franky explained what we were trying to achieve, we were all quite keen to get the ball rolling. I’m looking through Bea’s file, just to re-familiarise myself with everything, when Franky walks back in.  
“Hey babe, thought I’d pick up some pastries as well – I got you a Pain au chocolat, your favourite.” She says, placing all the items on the table before giving me a quick kiss.  
“Oh, thanks you darling, that was very sweet of you.” I smile as she sits down on the chair to my left.  
Not even five minutes later, there’s a knock at the door and Will appears, with Bea behind him.  
“Hi. Franky, just phone Vera’s office when you’re finished okay? Will be easier that way.”  
“Sure, no problem, thanks. Hey Red, take a seat, I brought some coffee and pastries if you’re wanting anything.” Franky says, as Bea’s eyes go wide at the coffee table.  
“Wow – you bring enough? Not that I’m complaining though! Thanks I’ll take you up on that offer.” Bea sits down and we all prepare our coffees and take what else we want.  
“Right, well I guess I’ll just get started then. Bea, you’ve been in here for seven years now, and the charges against you are very serious. However, if I can evaluate you and come to the conclusion that you are stable and pose no risk to the public, or yourself then I can recommend various things to the board, such as a reduced sentence, reinstating parole or possibly even another facility – one where you could better develop skills – it’s up to you of course, but if we get to that stage, in my professional opinion I would advise you to look at all options. I will need to conduct weekly sessions with you, for a minimum of eight weeks, these are mandatory. So what do you think so far Bea? Still something you’d be interested in pursuing?” I can tell Bea has been listening intently, taking in all of what I’ve said.  
“Okay, yeah sure – I mean it’s worth a shot at least, like Franky and I discussed before, it’s not like I have anything to lose.” I nod and give her a smile.  
“Okay, that’s settled then, Bridget will do eight weeks with you, starting Monday 24th April – you still okay with that Gidge?” last night we decided I would take until Olivia’s first birthday off from the uni – and doing this at Wentworth won’t affect my job because I’m not taking any fee.  
“That’s fine – I look forward to starting our proper sessions, let’s hope we get a good outcome.”  
“So Red, I’ll look over your case, try and find any discrepancies and we can work on your statement together as well – we’ve got a few months, so I’ll focus on Boomer and Chang’s parole for now, hopefully they’ll get out then I can come back and focus on you, okay?”  
“That’s fine with me, thank you both so much for trying to help – even if it fails, just know I’ll be forever grateful for you doing all this – especially as I imagine you’ve got your hands full at home.” Franky and I share a knowing look with each other, before turning our attention back to Bea.  
“Well, a baby is hard work – but we seem to have been lucky so far, she sleeps through the night almost always now and she’s not much of a crier. She’s just over four months now, so I know soon she’ll be more mobile and we’ll need to watch her more carefully – I wish she could stay this small forever.” Franky says, face full of pride as she talks about our daughter.  
“Yeah, if only they stayed that small, my Debbie was crawling just before six months and took her first steps at nine months, she always had to be an over-achiever and best at everything.” Bea let’s out a sad laugh at the memory, then adds.  
“Just make the most of everything, appreciate every single day and always kiss her goodnight – if you do those little things she’ll always know how much you love her.” Franky leans over to squeeze Bea’s hand as an act of comfort.  
“We will, thanks Bea. Well, I think that’s us for now, you can start to think of your statement and what you’ll put in it, and we’ll be in contact nearer the time of my first session with you to let you know a time.” I smile at her as she stands up.  
“Let me just give the Governor’s office a call so we can get you an escort back to H2.” Franky adds, moving towards her desk phone.  
“Okay, well thanks for the coffee – and that croissant was amazing. I look forward to hearing from you both again.”  
“Mr Jackson is on his way Red, you take care – and watch out for the girls – especially Booms, she could be out of here in two weeks if the hearing goes well – don’t let her do anything stupid.” Franky gives Bea a look that I’ve only seen a few times before, and never once has it been directed at me – it’s a cross between ‘you don’t want to piss me off’ and ‘this should be enough of a warning’ I think Bea is slightly taken aback by the expression.  
“Yeah, yeah of course – you know I don’t want to mess that up, I won’t get her involved in any shit – you have my word.” Just then Will knocks, then enters the office.  
“Good to hear Red, well we’ll see you later – be good.” Franky does her signature wink and smirk combo, just causing Bea to laugh and roll his eyes. 

Chp46

Two weeks have passed since Bridget and I met with Bea at Wentworth, and I gave her the not so subtle warning about messing up Boomers parole. I’m pleased to see she listened to what I had to day, because right now I’m standing next to our car, waiting on Boomer coming out the gate. I really am happy for her, she deserves to be out of that place more than anyone else I know. I have Olivia with me, cradled in my arms trying to get her to sleep, she was doing great in her car seat for a while but I think she just wanted her mummy, and I know I’m the one who said to Bridget about self-soothing – but I don’t think I’d be able to leave her without picking her up and comforting her – she’s my little girl after all. I can see some people are starting to leave the prison, but they’re probably just visitors. Then I see her.  
“Booms! Boomer, over here.” I try not to yell to loudly, I don’t want to startle Olivia and scare her.  
“Franky! You’re here!” she makes quick work of closing in the distance between us, she’s about to engulf me in a massive, bone-crushing hug when she notices a little hand escape from the blanket I’m holding.  
“Ooh! You brought the baby! Let me see Franky! Please!” I can only laugh at her level of enthusiasm as I carefully peel back some more of the blanket, to give her a better view of Olivia.  
“Booms met my daughter – Olivia, and Olivia look, it’s your auntie Boomer.” I say, holding her up so Boomer can have a good look at her.  
“Oh god Franky – she looks just like you! She’s gorgeous, so perfect.” Boomer holds out a tentative hand, slowly approaching the baby, and running a gentle finger down her cheek. That’s when Olivia decides to grab Boomers finger with her tiny hand.  
“That means she likes you Booms.” I say, Boomer doesn’t even acknowledge what I’ve said, she’s completely entranced by the baby.  
“She has a strong grip Franky.” She says with a puzzled look.  
“Yeah, everyone says she must take after me, she sees something she likes and won’t let go.” I laugh.  
“Boomer! What you still doing he-oh.” I hear the voice of Kim Chang from the other side of the carpark – Boomer must have been blocking Olivia and I from sight.  
“Hey Kim, yeah we’re just about to leave. Franky is just getting Olivia settled for the car ride.” Boomer replies, very matter of fact, much to my amusement.  
“Oh, I see. Hi Franky.” Kim says, approaching where we are standing next to the Mercedes. As if on cue, Olivia starts to whimper and let out small cries.  
“Hey Kim. Shh, Olivia settle down – we’ll be home to mummy soon baby.” I say, rocking her back and forth.  
“Cute kid.” Is all Kim says next.  
“Thanks. Oh crap, umm I’m going to need to change her, the drives almost an hour and I don’t want her sitting with a dirty nappy for all that time.”  
“Umm, where Franky? We’re in a carpark…at a prison.” Boomer says, looking around us.  
“Ha, trust me Booms, once you have a baby – you learn to be prepared for every scenario – in this case, the boot of the car will have to do. Can you take her for a minute? I just need to grab her bag and put a towel down.”  
“Sure! Yeah no probs Franky.” I hand the baby over to Boomer, who seems very content holding her. For some reason, Kim is still standing next to us – really not sure why. I set up everything I need in the boot – and Boomer puts Olivia down on the towel.  
“Okay Olivia, nappy change time – no squirming okay, let’s not show your mummy up.” She lets out a little laugh as I tickle her belly.  
“Wow Franky, you’re good at that.” Boomer says as she watches intently – I’m just fastening back up Olivia’s onesie.  
“Months of practice Booms, could probably do it blindfolded now. Here we go, all clean now baby girl. Booms, take her again while I clean this stuff up will you?” she instantly takes the baby from me again while I finish tidying.  
Right – we better get a move on then, Bridget said lunch would be ready by 2pm, she would have come but thought it better just me for when you got out.” I take Olivia and strap her in her car seat.  
“That was thoughtful of her – I’m looking forward to meeting her properly.” I smile at this.  
“She is too Booms, right hop in then. Umm Kim? Is there a reason you’re still standing next to us?” she’s fidgeting with her hands, while looking at the ground.  
“Umm not really – I was just wondering how Booms was getting out of here, but clearly you have that taken care of.”  
“Right – but why are you still standing next to my car?” I ask, just wanting to get home.  
“Oh. Well, it’s just that my ride never showed and I have no money to get into the city, before is saw you, I thought I could get a ride from Booms, that’s all.  
“Get in the car Kim.” I say, hopping in the driver’s seat.  
“Oh Booms, you mind sitting in the back and watching Olivia please? Sometimes she gets a bit sick in the car. “she nods and gets in the backseat. Kim is still just standing looking at the car.  
“Kim, just get in the bloody car!” this does the trick and she hops in the front passenger seat.  
“Thanks – really, I appreciate this.” She says, looking over to me as I start to drive.  
“Well we couldn’t just leave you stranded. Put the address in the GPS, would you?”  
“Yeah sure thing.”  
Half an hour later we arrive at the address Kim input to the Sat Nav.  
“Okay, well this is me. Umm I guess this is goodbye then, maybe see you around Booms, Franky – thanks for the ride, I really do mean that. Also, sorry, I was such a bitch to you and Bridget – I’m glad you’re happy – and that kid of yours is far too cute.” Kim says, opening the door to get out. Boomer gets out to hug her goodbye, I lean over slightly, trying to think what to say.  
“Thank Kim, and for whatever it’s worth, I really never meant to hurt you back then – take care of yourself, and don’t end up back inside.”  
“Yeah Franky – nah I won’t, I’m done with that shit now.” And with that, she leaves.  
“Okay Booms – only 15-20 minutes and we’ll be at my place.” I smile into the rear-view mirror; she’s taking her job of watching Olivia very seriously – she’s hardly looked away from her.  
“Okay cool, that’s good.” Is the murmured reply I receive.  
Bridget POV

I must say, I’m unusually nervous about this afternoon – I mean, the only interaction I’ve ever had with ‘Boomer’ was during group session, when she was explaining to me she punched her last councillor in the face and ended up in Wentworth, it was Franky that intervened back then and basically told her to shut up and watch her mouth. My hero – even back then. It’ll be different this time though – I’m sure of it, they’ll be back in a few minutes – lunch is more or less ready, I just need to plate it up when they get here. Just then, the front door opens and I’m immediately greeted by Olivia’s wailing – which is very unlike her. I move fast to the hall, where I see ‘Boomer’ walking towards me with my daughter – eyes wide, looking slightly worried.  
“Hi, Bridget – umm Franky had to get her stuff from the car so asked me to bring her in, I hope you don’t mind – but now she won’t stop crying – I’m sorry.” She says, thrusting the baby out towards me, clearly panicked she’s done something wrong.  
“Hey, don’t worry – she’s just hungry, she hasn’t been fed in a few hours, she’ll settle down after that. It’s so nice to see you again, Sue.” I say, taking Olivia from her and moving to heat up a pre-made bottle that we have stored.  
“Ha, it’s weird hearing my actual name, please just call me Boomer, if you call me Sue I probably won’t answer you half the time because I’ll think you’re talking to someone else.” I laugh at this as she says it, and get Olivia to start feeding from the bottle, just then Franky comes into the kitchen to join us.  
“Hi honey.” She greets, giving me a quick kiss on the lips.  
“Hey – lunch is ready; can you serve it up while I finish with Olivia please?”  
“Sure, no problem.”  
“Do you need a hand with anything Franky?” Boomer asks.  
“No, you’re the guest Booms, just go have a seat at the table – we’ll only be a minute – you want wine?”  
“Thanks, umm yes please, it’s been a while though so just a small glass.”  
I put Olivia in her bouncer chair next to the dining table so we can keep an eye on her while we eat.  
“This is a really lovely home you have here, been in it long?” Boomer asks as Franky returns to the table, puts the dishes down in front of us then takes a seat herself.  
“Well, I’ve lived here for seven years now, I was in Sydney before then so I bought this place when I moved to Melbourne – it was far too big for me back then – but it’s turned out to be a great family home.” I reply as we begin to tuck into the food.  
“So when did you move in here Franky?” Boomer asks, looking at Franky this time. I can see my wife trying to hide the smile playing on her lips before she answers.  
“Well – Bridget and I didn’t start out very traditional, on the day of my release, she picked me up and we came back here, she’s not managed to get rid of me since.” Franky and I share a chuckle, but Boomer just looks at us as if we’re crazy.  
“Oh – wow, aren’t there rules though? I thought you’d need to stay elsewhere, especially while on parole.”  
“Well, technically yes – we were just very careful with our relationship for the first year or so, but to be honest, we were together two years when we got married and no one batted an eyelid – I think there were bigger things to worry about, than two people in love.” I say to Boomer, as Franky reaches for my hand to give it a squeeze.  
“Yeah Booms, she’s right – we were a bit worried at first, but my parole only lasted six months, and once Bridget left Wentworth the year after, she became a full time lecturer, so no patients meant she wouldn’t get struck off for our relationship – now though since it’s been more than two years everything is fine, she can go back to having patients with no worries.” Franky says and I nod my head in agreement with her, this seems to satisfy Boomer.  
“That’s good then – because I’ve never seen you so happy before Franky – the whole wife and kid thing looks good on you.”  
“Yeah Booms thanks, honestly never been happier – I finally have a great life – the past is now well and truly in the past, and for that I’m thankful.”  
The rest of lunch passes by quickly, Frank and I clear the table while Boomer plays with Olivia in the Livingroom.  
“She’s really good with her Franky.” I say, observing the scene in the other room while drying the dishes.  
“Yeah she really is, Olivia seems to have taken to her as well, which is nice.”  
“Mhmm it is, when does she need to be at the bedsit?” I ask Franky, knowing myself it won’t be the nicest place to stay but for now it’s necessary.  
“Well the curfew isn’t until 10pm, but I’ll drop her off a bit earlier and make sure she gets settled in okay.”  
“You’re such a good friend darling, what’s she got lined up for work, anything yet?” I ask, but my attention is once again drawn to my daughter and our guest.  
“Nothing as of yet – let’s just say she wasn’t very committed when it came to the study programmes.”  
“Huh, interesting.” I say absentmindedly out loud.  
“Why’s that babe?” Franky asks, eyebrows knitted together in confusion at my words.  
“Okay – well it’s just an idea – but what would you think about asking Boomer to look after Olivia, once I start the sessions with Bea I mean, and Vera has sort of asked me to help out with some other women as well, but I didn’t want to say yes because of Olivia – but now, this might work, any thoughts?” Franky has now turned to give me her full attention.  
“Oh. You’d be okay with that?” she says, quite shocked.  
“Of course, she’s your friend, just like Amelia, Maura, Erica and everyone else – I think, given we’re married establishes I have no issues with reformed prisoners in my life.” Franky takes me by surprise, as she is suddenly on me, lifting me up so I need to wrap my legs around her waist for balance, as she claims my lips with her own.  
“You – are the most amazing woman on this planet Bridget Westfall-Doyle, I freakin’ love you!”  
“I’m assuming, judging by your reaction – that you’re on board with the idea?” I ask knowingly, still hoisted up in Franky’s arms.  
“Yes babe, I think it’s a brilliant idea! Thank you. I guess we should go and ask her though – just in case.” With one last kiss, Franky slowly lowers me to the ground again.  
“Hey Booms! Bridget and I have a proposition for you.” Franky says as we walk hand-in-hand into the Livingroom.  
“A proposition?” her eyes narrow at us suspiciously.  
“Franky, I’ve told you before – I only did that the one time, and I’m sorry Bridget – but you’re not a guy and I’m not into doing it with two other women.” Boomer looks at Franky and I apologetically – I’m very confused by her response, until it suddenly clicks with me – Franky is already doubled over laughing.  
“Oh god! No! No – that’s not what Franky was getting at – nope, nothing like that, we are definitely not propositioning you for a threesome!” I’m also now trying not to burst out laughing.  
“Oh – okay, yeah of course not, sorry my bad – what were you going to ask me Franky?” Franky gives me a look; one I understand as ‘are you sure you want to go through with this?’ I give her a nod as she now has the composure to start again.  
“Right Booms – like Bridget said, no threesome, don’t panic, what we were going to ask is if you would become Olivia’s babysitter? Bridget will be consulting at Wentworth again soon, so a few times a week probably – we’ll come up with a salary and everything if you accept.”  
“You trust me to look after Olivia? Wow! Thank you both so much, I was worrying about getting a job but this would be great – ahh thank you!” Boomer gives us both a hug.  
“Well you seem to be good with her – you can just come here and watch her if that’s okay, saves moving her stuff.” I say as I pick Olivia up.  
“Sounds perfect! Oh I can’t wait to start – you just let me know when and I’ll be here!” she says, full of enthusiasm.  
“Fantastic! Oh, excuse me, I think someone needs changed, I’ll be right back.” I say, going to move with Olivia to the nursery.  
“Wait! Here, let me – I’ll need to get used to it, I don’t mind honest.” Boomer says, holding her arms out expectantly.  
“Umm okay, if you’re sure.” I say handing my daughter over.  
“Nursery’s down there on the left Booms, call if you need help.” Franky says as Boomer starts to walk away.  
“I’m not gonna lie Gidge, I could get used to someone else taking care of that end of things.” Franky laughs and I couldn’t agree more. 

Chp47

It has now been six weeks since Boomer was released, so far she’s doing good – hates the bedsit but she needs to stay there for at least another 14 weeks – she’s not happy about it, but the last thing she wants to do is break parole and end up back inside. Today, Bridget has her first session with Bea, even though we said it wouldn’t be until the 24th, we decided to bring it forward a few weeks, since we now have Boomer to help with Olivia it makes life that bit easier.  
“Good morning Franky – you’re up early, it’s your day off.” My wife says, walking into the kitchen.  
“Morning, I know – think I’m just so used to getting up for this time, it’s like I have an internal alarm clock or something.” I hand Bridget a cup of coffee, she instantly perks up at this.  
“Oh thank you! I definitely need this right now – I forgot what early starts for work were like.”  
“Yup, that’s what we get for having such a good kid – not many rude awakenings from her.” I go and stand behind Bridget and wrap my arms around her, loving the feel of holding her close like this.  
“Hmm – I know, can you believe it’s almost 8am and she’s still asleep? That’s from her last feed at 11pm last night – she clearly takes after you darling.” Bridget says, spinning around to capture my lips in a sweet kiss.  
“You’re right there – I am so not a morning person, never have been, never will be.”  
“You don’t need to tell me!”  
“Yeah, yeah! Anyway – you should probably start you head – don’t want to be late for your first session of the day.”  
“You’re right -it’s at 10am but the time I get everything sorted I guess I should go – oh and Vera said I can use your office babe.” I look at her with raised eyebrows.  
“Oh come on! That’s not fair – you’re reclaiming already? It’s your first day!” I pout at her.  
“Well, technically – it was mine before it was yours – anyway, it’s already got our photos and stuff in it.”  
“Fine – just one thing though.” I say with a devious look.  
“And what would that be?” Bridget replies.  
“Well, just please don’t look in the bottom drawer of the desk, okay?” I give her the most serious look I can manage.  
“Umm, okay – why though?” she looks at me puzzled.  
“Oh – it’s nothing, honest – just don’t look though. Anyway – time for you to go. I love you and I’ll see you tonight.” I say, pushing her towards the front door, handing her a jacket and bag as we go.  
“In a rush to get rid of me Franky? But yeah, I shouldn’t be late, probably be back before 6pm – I love you too, and be good. Give Olivia a kiss from me when she finally wakes up.” With one final kiss, Bridget leaves – opting to take the Porsche, just in case I decide to go out with Olivia.  
My daughter finally decided to make herself known close to 9am, I hear her cries coming through the baby monitor as I watch TV, and make my way to her.  
“Hi baby, did you have a good sleep? Shall we get you fed and changed, huh?” She’s looking at me with wide eyes as I talk to her, I pick her up to go and get her ready for the day ahead. 

Bridget POV

I arrive at Wentworth just after 9am, it was so much fun taking the Porsche, I haven’t driven it in so long – since most of the time we go out as a family of three, it’s not ideal. I get settled in the office, admiring the photos that take pride of place on the desk my wife and I will now share. I can’t help but dart my eyes down to the ‘forbidden drawer’ wondering if Franky was being serious or not. Chances are she was not, but I’ll leave it to investigate another time. I make myself a coffee, trying to wake myself up a bit more before my session with Bea begins. I have a feeling she will be even harder to get through to than Franky was – and she was certainly stubborn. I am slightly concerned we won’t make much progress – but I do know she doesn’t want to be here for another 20 years, and the only way I can help her is if she opens up to me. I’ve read her file multiple times now, and the thing that has always striked me is just how smart she is – she’s not one to jump into something head first, she’s methodical – and plans her course of action down to the tee, take the murder of Brayden Holt as an example – she basically played Franky, got into her head – which trust me, is not an easy thing to do. She made Franky think she was making a move for Top Dog, where in fact it really had nothing to do with that – it was all part of the bigger plan – kill Brayden. Franky was more or less collateral damage, and it turns my stomach when I think of the injuries my wife sustained during that fight.  
I am taken out of my thoughts by a knock at the door, then in walks Will, followed closely by Bea.  
“Hi Bridget, just dropping her off – I’ll be back in an hour.2 Will smiles, then walks out the office, leaving just the two of us.  
“Hi Bea – please make yourself comfy then we’ll start. Can I get you a drink?”  
“Hey, thanks, no I’m okay.”  
“Great – let’s get started then.” I say, taking a seat across from her.  
“So what do you want me to talk about Bridget? I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”  
“Just start wherever – anything at all, I’m more or less here to listen, and of course what is said here is strictly confidential.”  
“Umm okay, well there is one thing actually that I just want to say, remember when you said one of the options to apply for would be moving to another facility? Could we not do that anymore? I want to stay here at Wentworth.” Bea says seriously.  
“That’s no problem – can I ask why the change of heart? Not even two months ago you seemed happy that could be an option, what’s changed?” I genuinely am confused by her changing her mind. She blushes as I look at her, quickly directing her eyes to a spot on the carpet.  
“Bea?” I say softly, trying to get an answer.  
“Imetsomeone.” She says so fast I can barely understand; did I hear her right?  
“You met someone? How so?” I push her for more.  
“Ugh, okay you’re the first person I’m telling about this, it’s making it feel more real saying it out loud.”  
“Take your time – no pressure, why don’t you start by telling me her name, I’m going to stretch a guess and assume it’s a woman.”  
“Well no shit it’s a woman.” She says rolling her eyes as we both let out a laugh.  
“Of course – sorry, please go on.” I say encouragingly.  
“Well her name is Allie, she’s only been here for a few months but she’s amazing – we have this incredible connection and we’re always laughing and she’s beautiful.” Bea looks up at me, she’s bright red from blushing and I give her a knowing smile.  
“You love her.” I simply state.  
“I think I do – I never thought, after all the messed up shit that’s happened I would ever smile or laugh like this again, but as soon as I see her my day instantly brightens – we’ve kissed a few times, but I think she’s wanting to take it to the next level.” Bea says, I raise my eyebrows – genuinely surprised she is sharing such intimate details.  
“How does that make you feel?”  
“I’m not sure – I mean, don’t get me wrong I want to, it’s just that sex has never been something I’ve enjoyed, mostly because Harry just forced himself on me – it was never pleasurable on my end.”  
“But it’ll be different with Allie, she won’t hurt you.”  
“No, I know she won’t – I guess I’m nervous, I mean it’s different – god this is so embarrassing! I’m worried I won’t do it right and she’ll hate it. She has experience with women, I don’t – none at all.”  
“Bea – I wouldn’t worry – it is clear for me to see how much you love and care for her, and I know I don’t know her, but from what you’ve said I think she feels the same, she’ll guide you through it, okay? The more you worry the worse it’ll be – just relax.” Where is my wife when you need her? This is definitely her specialist subject.  
“You’re right, I know – but yeah that’s basically why I don’t want to move facilities.” I nod and smile.  
“Okay, that’s good – I’m happy that you feel able to open up to me – it’ll make the sessions that much better.”  
“You’re easy to talk to, I can see why Franky fell for you. Oh and about Franky, you can tell her about Allie, I know she’ll die when you tell her.” I chuckle at this.  
“Ha! You do realise she won’t believe me? She’ll think I’m winding her up!”  
“True! Well I’ll confirm it myself when I see her next, maybe she can give me some pointers.” Bea winks.  
“Pointer?” I ask, confused.  
“Yeah, you know – the best way to get a woman off.” It’s my turn to go bright red.  
“Umm, well yes, Franky is somewhat of an expert on that.” Bea just laughs.  
“Do you know about how I met Franky for the first time?”  
“No – I don’t actually.”  
“Oh god! You’ll die! I opened the door to my newly assigned cell, only to find her going down on that Kim Chang in my bed! Couldn’t even have the sheets changed for a bloody week!” I had just taken a sip of water and spit it right back out.  
“Oh my god! No way! I’m glad I have her tamed now!”  
“Yeah, if I remember right she asked me if I wanted to join in, I didn’t know where to look – I just left, closed the door and let them finish.” Bea is laughing so hard and I’m totally shocked by this revelation.  
“I’ll be having words with her when I get home! I can’t believe that – wow.”  
“Oh god she’ll kill me for telling you about that – tell her I’m sorry but I just couldn’t keep that to myself.” I laugh, just imaging my wife’s reaction when I bring it up tonight.  
“That’s time up for today Bea, take care and I’ll see you next week.” We exchange a smile as she leaves the office, Will waiting outside for her.  
I arrive home at 5.30pm, immediately greeted by the lovely aroma of food as I walk through the door.  
“That smells great Franky – I’m starving!” I say walking to the kitchen.  
“Hi babe, yeah it’s ready now – I’ve fed Olivia so she should be happy while we eat.” We sit down at the table and begin to eat the food Franky prepared.  
“So – how was your first day then? Feel as though you’d never left?” Franky asks, breaking the comfortable silence that had formed.  
“Yeah it was good – loads of paperwork though. Oh, I have something to tell you.” I say, a smile forming on my lips.  
“Ooh! Is it prison gossip? Please say it is!” Franky asks excitably, like a small child.  
“It is – it’s about Bea.” Franky leans closer to me, immediately captivated.  
“She has a girlfriend.” I say with a massive grin; my wife’s face right now is priceless!  
“Shut the front door! No way! Red finally decided to play for our team? About bloody time! Tell me everything!”  
“Well her name is Allie, and I really think that Bea loves her, they’ve kissed a few times but nothing more yet – although she’s quite sure that’s next on the list – and she’s really nervous in case she’s terrible at the sex – that’s all I think. I don’t worry, I’m not breaking confidentiality, she said I could tell you.”  
“Holy shit! I can’t believe Red is now gonna be a vagetarian!” I just look at Franky with raised eyebrows as she says this.  
“You know Gidge, vag – as in.” I raise my hand, getting her to stop before she explains any further.  
“Yeah, pretty sure I get where you’re going with that babe.”  
“Good to know. So anything else juicy happen?”  
“Oh – well now you mention it, yes. Bea was kind enough to tell me the story of your first encounter – I must say Franky; I was totally not expecting to hear what I was told.” Franky’s eyes go wider than I have ever seen them.  
“She umm, she told you about that?”  
“Yup, and you even asked her to join in? wow – such a warm welcome for the new girl.” I laugh as Franky looks at me, horrified I’ve found this out.  
“I admit, not one of my finer moments – I think it’s fair to say I’ve come a long way in those seven years.” We smile at each other, and she leans forward to capture my lips in a kiss.  
“You have indeed baby, you have indeed.”

Chp48

“Well babe, I hope for your sake it’s not really ugly, have you seen some of the bridesmaid dresses out there? And no offence to Vera, but she’s hardly fashionable. Thank god I get to wear a tux – imagine if I had to wear a dress? Hell would have to freeze over before they’d get me in one!” I say to Bridget as we are leaving the house, she is meeting with Vera, Maura and Erica to look at dresses, basically a girls shopping day, and I’m going to the pub with Will and the guys, then going to get fitted for me tuxedo – and probably if I’m being honest we’ll go back to the pub. It’s now only six weeks until the big day. Olivia is going with Bridget as well, and they’ll try and find her an outfit as well.  
“Well hopefully that’s why she’s taking us – so we can give our opinion, let’s hope she’ll listen. I can’t wait to get Olivia her dress, I’m so excited!” Bridget says while picking up Olivia and holding her above her head, spinning around as our daughter squeals in delight.  
“Babe, watch she’s not sick on you – I just fed her.” I laugh as Bridget immediately stops and lowers her.  
“Oops – sorry baby girl.” She says, kissing Olivia’s head.  
“I can’t believe how big she’s getting Gidge, six months old, where has the time gone? She’s even been trying to crawl recently.” I say, looking at my daughter – think back to when she was just born and how small she was.  
“I know Franky, but just think of all the milestones we get to look forward too.” I wrap my arms around my wife, Olivia sandwiched in the middle of us.  
“I love you both so much – now let’s get a move on, I hear a beer calling my name!” I wink as Bridget just rolls her eyes at me.  
Two hours later, I’m perched on a barstool – beer and whisky chaser in front of me, we’re on our third round and if we don’t make a move soon there’s no way we will be sober enough for our fittings.  
“Right guys, we need to head out after this round, those tuxedos won’t buy themselves, also I think I’m no longer very sober.” I look to Will as I say this.  
“Yeah she’s right – let’s down these and go.” We chug down the remaining pints and take our shot of whisky – probably should have just left them behind, but too late now.  
“Franky – I’m not gonna like, you will look sooo hot in a tux!” A rugby friend of Will’s says to me, I think his name is Alex, as we walk along the street to the rental store.  
“Yeah Franky! You are gonna look smokin’, you’ll be fighting people off you!” Will says, flashing me a massive grin and a wink.  
“Hmm I hope so, might help me get lucky on the day then! I laugh, thinking how much Bridget loves me in tuxedos, but Alex just steps closer to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.  
“Well…if you’re needing someone for the job – I’m your man!” He slurs, pulling me even closer, of course the guys think this is absolutely hilarious.  
“Umm mate?” Will says, doing his best to keep a straight face.  
“What Will? We’re havin’ a moment here!”  
“Really? Well if that’s the case, I think Franky’s wife would have something to say.” Alex let’s go of me so fast at Will’s words.  
“Damn! Seriously? All the hot girls I meet are lesbians!” he cries out, I such an overly dramatic way.  
“Sorry mate – but hey, the wedding will be full of chicks! I say to him.  
“Yeah! I’ll find a girl there, you’re right.”  
We arrive at the Tux rental store, only to be handed yet more alcohol – this time in the form of champagne.  
“Bridget is gonna kill me when I get home smelling like a distillery – but you know what? I don’t even care. I’m allowed to have fun!” I say, mixing drinks has never been a good idea for me.  
“Amelia will kill me too – but we hardly do this frequently! I really like these tux’s guys, we going with these ones?”  
“Yeah I think we all look good, what do you think Franky?”  
“They look good – but if you’re looking for the in-depth analysis a woman would normally provide, you should have brought my wife.” I say laughing, as the others join in too. We have drunk far too much champagne and already have plans to head to another pub when we’re finished here.  
“I wonder how the women are getting on anyway, I mean it hasn’t taken us long to decide but you know what they’re like.” Greg says and we all more than agree.  
“Don’t forget, they’re getting Olivia a dress – and those four deciding what one looks cutest on her is going to be a nightmare.”

Bridget POV

“Well I think we should get her this one she’s wearing, it’s slightly big right now but six weeks is a long time at her age – she’ll have gotten longer and put on weight.” I say, observing my daughter in a pale pink dress.  
“I agree – and she looks so cute in that one.” Maura says, moving to pick up Olivia.  
“Yeah, I think this one too, it’s by far the nicest one.” Erica says, moving to stand next to her girlfriend.  
“That’s settled then, so are we happy with all the dresses then?” Vera asks as she sips on champagne.  
“Yes, you two look lovely in the bridesmaid dresses – I think you’re making the right choice.” Erica replies.  
“Alright, great, well let’s open that second bottle of champagne to celebrate getting your dresses!” Vera says, clearly a little bit tipsy. Maura hands the baby to Erica so she can pop open the cork and fills the flutes.  
“Just a half for me please, the fact Franky is at the pub with the boys – Olivia needs at least one sober parent tonight.” I say, covering the champagne flute with my hand to signal enough has been poured.  
“That’s a good point – you know what they’re like when they get together.” Vera says, knowingly.  
“Mhmm, oh we should talk about your bachelorette party! We need to get it all planned out!” Maura says, getting excited at the prospect.  
“Do I need to have one?” Vera groans.  
“Of course you do! You can’t get married and not!” Erica replies.  
“Yup, Erica is right – don’t worry, I’ll plan a night you’ll never forget!” I say, looking to Vera who just groans even louder.  
“Okay, okay – but nothing too crazy!”  
“I make no promises. On that note, I better be heading home, it’s getting late and I need to get Olivia bathed and ready for bed.” I say standing, as Erica straps Olivia into her car seat.  
“Thanks Erica, okay well ladies – if you head to that cocktail bar, don’t get too drunk! Have a nice night, we’ll see you again soon.” We exchange goodbyes as I exit to get a taxi home.  
Once back at the house, I can’t say I’m shocked to find no trace of my wife, it’s only just gone 8pm after all – so she’ll probably be out for hours yet. I get Olivia ready for bedtime and she’s in her crib for the night by 9pm.  
I’m surprised, when I hear the door unlocking not even an hour later – however, not so surprised when I head a slight stumble, followed then by a thud coming from the hallway. I stand quickly and go and check on my drunk wife.  
“Gidget! You came to rescue me!” Franky shouts, from her position on the floor as she struggles to get up.  
“Shh, you’ll wake Olivia if you yell like that.” I say, getting her to her feet. She immediately throws her arms around my neck and places a sloppy kiss on my lips, I can taste the alcohol instantly. I push her back so I can properly look at her.  
“Hi, how much did you have to drink love?” I say, looking at her eyes, which are bloodshot.  
“Dunno – shots, lot’s.” is the only answer I get from her, we start moving towards the bedroom so I can put her to bed, when she abruptly stops, I turn to face her, just in time to witness her throwing up all over the carpet and herself. She then continues to walk to the bedroom, and before I can get to her, flings herself on the bed – with her sick covered clothes on.  
“Franky!” I shout as she closes her eyes.  
“Come on, get up you need to get cleaned up, the best is covered now and so is the carpet in the hall!”  
“No, me sleepy.” She says as I stare at her, seriously not impressed at all right now.  
“Franky, get off that bed and into the bathroom right now, or so help me!” she opens her eyes and looks up at me, then that’s when the waterworks start.  
“Why are you sooo mean Gidget – I’m not well, I’ve been sick. Be nice.” She says, tears rolling down her face. I just stare at her, eyebrows raised at her little performance.  
“You’re only sick because you drank too much, please Franky you need to get in the shower, then I can change the bed so we can go to sleep. Shower – now.” My voice remains calm, but I am starting to lose my patience, it’s been a while since she’s behaved like this – and I definitely haven’t missed it.  
“Alright – jeez, take a fucking chill pill!” she retorts, getting up from the bed on shaky legs.  
“Watch your mouth Franky – I will not have you swearing at me like that.” I say to her, as I help her into the bathroom, just in time for her to throw up again, luckily in the toilet this time.  
“Fucking hell” I murmur under my breath. I switch on the shower and don’t even bother to undress her – I just push her underneath the stream of water so she can clean up, she starts removing her clothes while I go and get her pyjamas – consisting of boy shorts and an old band tee. I walk back in, seeing she’s now completely stripped, I help her wash the vomit off of herself, get her out and dry and put the pyjamas on her.  
“I’m sorry baby.” She says to me as I lead her to the guest bedroom, unable to put her in our bed because I still need to change the sheets.  
“I know, let’s just get you in bed Franky, I’ll get you some water okay. Lie down.” She does as I go and get water and paracetamol to leave for the morning. When I return she is already fast asleep. I tuck her in, stroke the hair away from her face and kiss her forehead.  
“I love you Franky, even if you do drive me crazy sometimes.” I whisper and switch off the light, making my way back to our bedroom to clean up, and then moving to the hall to clean the carpet, knowing if I leave it overnight, the smell will be unbearable.  
I finally crawl in to bed next to Franky in the guest room at 12.30am, thankful to finally get some sleep.  
I am woken by the sound of Olivia crying in the baby monitor, checking the time, it is 8am. Franky is still sound asleep next to me as I make my way down the corridor to the crying baby. I bring her back to the guest room with me to feed her in bed, as I walk in Franky is now sitting up against the headboard, drinking the water I left and popping a few paracetamols.  
“Good morning.” I say, moving to get back in bed with Olivia, settling her against my chest to feed.  
“Bridget.” She says softly, ‘there’s my full name again’ I think.  
“Yes?” I turn my head towards her.  
“I’m so sorry for coming home in that state. I’m so sorry for being sick everywhere and being an asshole – but mostly, I’m ashamed of how I spoke to you last night when you were only trying to help, you were being incredible and I just reverted back to my old ways, which is unforgivable.” She says, looking me right in the eye.  
“I accept your apologise Franky, but the way you spoke to me really hurt – if it happens again I don’t think I can be so forgiving.” I say, being completely honest with her. She moves closer to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.  
“I absolutely hate that side of me baby – I hate hurting you in any way and you have my word I’ll never get like that again, I promise. I won’t jeopardise losing you two over being an idiot.” She kisses me on the cheek, and I turn my head to our lips connect.  
“I know, it was just a bad night – let’s just move on okay, I think we’ve said everything we need to about it. You get some more sleep, then you’ll feel better darling.” I kiss her one more time, before she rolls over to her side of the bed again and falls back to sleep almost instantly. 

Chp49

“Hey, slow down – I can’t understand what you’re saying Erica – you want to come around now? Umm yeah sure. Bridget and I are in, right okay see you both soon.” I hang up the phone and walk in to the Livingroom, where my wife is giving Olivia her last feed for the night. Things have gone back to normal since last week thankfully – I feel really awful for behaving the way I did but I’m just glad we’ve been able to put it in the past now.  
“Who was that on the phone?” Bridget asks as I move to sit down next to her.  
“It was Erica – her and Maura want to come over – said they have something to tell us.” I say, curious myself as to what it could be.  
“Hmm, after 10pm on a Sunday night? That’s unusual – oh well, guess we’ll need to wait and see, any clues?”  
“None at all, she was talking very fast and I could barely make out what she was saying, then more or less as soon as I said okay to them coming around she hung up.”  
“That’s odd – even for her.” Bridget laughs and so do I.  
“Yeah, just a bit!” The doorbell rings seconds later, I get up off the sofa to answer it, letting both Maura and Erica inside.  
“Hey guys – Bridget’s through in the Livingroom, just feeding Olivia before bedtime.” I say, as they follow me towards my wife and daughter.  
“Hi Bridget, sorry for the late night intrusion but we have some news!” Maura says happily from Erica’s side.  
“We’re engaged!” They both announce at the same time. My mouth drops open, as I look between the couple and my wife, Bridget is the first to speak.  
“Congratulations you two! That’s lovely news.” Luckily Olivia is finished feeding so Bridget is able to stand up and embrace the two of them. It’s as I’m watching this unfold I suddenly realise I’ve yet to utter a word of congratulations towards them myself.  
“Wow – you guys! That’s huge! When? How? Tell us!” I say, after getting over the initial shock.  
“Okay – well we’ve been talking about different things recently, we basically already live together – Erica has her entire wardrobe in my closet. We’re not getting any younger either so we’ve decided that the next step is to get married. I mean, I’m 40 next year, Erica will be 37, we’ve had the talk about kids and it’s something that we both want to try for in the not too distant future. We know it seems sudden, we’ve only been dating for six months, but it just feels right.” Maura finishes, planting a kiss to Erica’s lips.  
“Oh my god! I’m so happy for you both – this is so exciting!” I say, pulling both of them into a hug, much like my wife did.  
“Yeah we can’t wait, we’re thinking a September wedding, just something small and then if all goes to plan – hopefully we’ll start on the process to have a child early next year.” Erica says, excitement so clear in her voice.  
“That’s great, well if you have any questions about the processes, Franky and I might be able to help – when the time comes of course.” Bridget says to the couple.  
“Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind – anyway, we’ll let you get to bed since you both have work in the morning, we were just far too excited to keep this to ourselves!” Maura says as they make a move to leave.  
“Oh – we should celebrate this weekend coming, why don’t you come for dinner? We can invite the others as well.” I say walking them to the door, Bridget and Olivia right behind me.  
“That sounds lovely, if you’re sure you don’t mind.” Erica says.  
“Not at all, we would be happy to.” Bridget replies as we bid them farewell and I shut the door, leaning my back against it before looking at my wife in shock.  
“Tell me I’m not dreaming and that actually happened?” I question as Bridget just laughs.  
“Yes sweetheart, that was very much real – wow I can’t believe it, really I’m happy for them, just talk about fast.”  
“Yeah I know what you mean – but seems like they have it all figured out anyway.” We move to the nursery to put Olivia down for the night.  
“Sweet dreams baby girl.” I say, kissing her, as Bridget does the same.  
Once we both get ourselves ready for bed, we snuggle together like we always do.  
“So Booms is coming for 7.30am to watch Olivia, I’m in court so I need to leave super early babe – you’ll probably still be asleep so I won’t wake you. I can’t believe tomorrow is your fifth session with Red! Crazy. I’m seeing her next week to see how she’s getting on with her statement.”  
“Good, I’m sure she’s doing fine. Well we’re making progress, but I think tomorrow will be a difficult session.” I look down in concern to where my wife’s head is rested on my shoulder.  
“How so Gidge?” she just buries her face further into my neck as I wait for her to reply, but she’s gone very quiet. I brush my hand under her chin, picking her head up so I can see her face, instantly greeted by her tear stained cheeks.  
“Babe? What is it? Please tell me, you’re scaring me.” I do my best to wipe the tears, but more keep running down her face.  
“You know how I have to go through her prison records? Tomorrow we need to discuss her escape from the hospital when she killed Brayden Holt, and also the circumstances that led up to that. I need to read about all of your injuries Franky.” Ah, it all makes sense now.  
“Hey, we’ve talked about this Gidge, I’m fine now – it’s in the past.” I say, trying to comfort her.  
“No Franky! It’s because of fights like this you couldn’t carry our child – you were so badly injured at Wentworth, and you could have so easily been killed.”  
“Shh, I’m sorry – none of it should have ever happened – I hate that you need to read about it all.” I say, tears in my eyes now seeing how much pain my past is causing my wife.  
“I’m sorry too Franky – I’m such an emotional mess whenever this stuff comes up, I’ll be fine in the session though, I know your injuries anyway and surprisingly you got off rather lightly with Bea.”  
“Have you looked at what Reds were? Did you read what happened?”  
“Only briefly – she was very severely injured – her forehead and wrists were slashed in the struggle.” Bridget says, and I just look at her waiting for more.  
“Oh – you don’t know then?” I say, assuming she would have heard.  
“Know what Franky?”  
“Gidge, do you not think it’s strange how she became Top Dog? You just said yourself I got off lightly, well that’s because the wrist injuries?” she just nods at me to continue.  
“They were self-inflicted, she wanted to make sure the screws couldn’t cuff her so it would be easier to escape, those weren’t part of the struggle. She stood over me, box cutter in hand and cut her own wrists, I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ll never forget it – that’s when I instantly felt like such a fool, she played me, like you know, I was just collateral damage for the endgame – Brayden Holt.” Bridget looks shocked at what I’ve just told her.  
“Oh my god – but how? She should have bled to death with those injuries, she would have known that for sure – why would she do that? There were so many and most were quite deep.”  
“You’ll need to ask her that babe, get into her head with what the hell she was thinking. Anyway, I think we should get some sleep, early starts tomorrow.” I say, getting into the ‘big spoon’ position, holding my wife tightly against my body.  
“Night Gidge, love you.”  
“Love you too, Goodnight.”

Bridget POV

The next morning, true to her word – Boomer arrives sharp at 7.30am, ready to watch Olivia for the day.  
“Thanks so much Boomer, I need to go now but as always help yourself to anything you want and just phone if there’s any issues.” I say grabbing my bag.  
“No worries Bridget, Olivia and I will be fine.” I give Olivia a kiss goodbye, Franky left an hour ago for her court day.  
“Bye, see you tonight!” I throw over my shoulder as I rush out the door, jump in the car and set off to Wentworth.  
At 10am, what has now become our regular slot, Will drops Bea off at my office.  
“Good morning Bea.” I say as she sits opposite me.  
“Hey Bridget – so what part of the file are we on this week?” she says, getting straight to the point as usual.  
“Umm, we’re going to be looking at the murder of Brayden Holt – and the events leading up to that.” I say calmly, however, her eyebrows raise at this.  
“Is that not going to be a slight conflict? I mean, the fight that landed me in the hospital was between myself and your wife. I like you Bridget, I really do, same goes for Franky now we’ve put all our shit behind us, the last thing I want to do is say anything that’s going to cause you upset.” I smile at Bea, appreciating her caring nature.  
“Well thank you – that means a lot, but it’s my job to hear about this, I won’t lie to you and say it won’t be painful to hear, but it’s all in the past now.” I nod, almost trying to convince myself.  
“Well, if you’re sure – where should I start?”  
“Just from the beginning.” I say simply.  
“Right – umm well after my attempt to kill Brayden in the visitor area, I discovered this drug from another inmate – basically it was a blood-clotting pill – I knew if I was to fight Franky I would get seriously injured so I took them each day for weeks, checking my progress each day by cutting my finger and wiping the blood, seeing how much of a trail it left. Franky was desperate to fight me – she thought I was interested in the position of Top Dog, only in reality she couldn’t have been more wrong.” Bea takes a breather at this point, gathering her thoughts.  
“You’re doing good so far.” I say, offering a weak smile.  
“Okay – so I tried to protect myself as best I could, I taped old magazines together and used them for around my midsection, effectively protecting my organs from being punctured. During the fight I screamed out in pain every time Franky’s shiv hit the magazines, wanting everyone to think Franky had the upper hand and I was indeed being stabbed. I had a box cutter, but I never once used it on her, I really never wanted her to get seriously injured because of me. At one point, I ran at her, pushed her so hard into the dryer that it broke, just before I did that she had sliced my forehead open.” She pauses again at this point, a faraway look in her eyes.  
“Then, I guess I just lost it soon after, I threw her to the ground, sat on her and punched her repeatedly in the face, pinning her arms above her head until she dropped the box cutter.” I’m quite shocked by how much detail she can recall – especially considering I thought her mental state was compromised.  
“The next thing I know, I have the knife again – right against her throat – and I look her straight in the eye and say “are we done?” and she looks right back at me, and after a few seconds pass she nods her head. I tell her to say to everyone what she means. That’s when she yells out “It’s Bea’s.”  
“You seem to remember the entire fight in very vivid detail.” I say to her, waiting to see what comes next.  
“Oh, I do – after Franky told them I had won, I stood up, standing over her laying on the floor – pulled the sleeves of my hoody up and started stabbing and cutting my arms and wrists – knowing the drug I had been taking would prolong the time I had to receive medical attention. I then walked over to the duress button, pressed it and waited. That was it – I was the new Top Dog, an added bonus I guess – and phase one of my plan was a success.”  
“That’s a lot of information to take in – why did you decide to cut your wrists? You’re other injuries, especially your forehead would have warranted a hospital visit anyway.” I ask, already knowing but wanting to hear how she knew.”  
“One of the girls in the unit slashed her wrists a few months prior – I was with her at the infirmary and heard the screws say it was against protocol to cuff slashed wrists – I knew it would make the escape I had planned that much easier.” I knew Bea was smart before, but hearing all of these details astounds me.  
“You really did think of every last detail – you were absolutely determined to get him.” I say to her, she looks at me intently for a second before looking away, tears starting to pool in her eyes.  
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand Bridget – and I hope more than anything you and Franky will never need to feel the pain I felt – at being told my perfect little girl was dead – I failed her, I couldn’t protect her – that bastard injected her with pure heroin, in her childhood bedroom, and left her to die – while I was locked in here, unable to do a damn thing. I asked for help – god, I begged Franky to help me keep her safe but no one believed Jacs was going after Debbie – and why would they? I’d never done anything to her – except exist in this shithole. It still baffles me why both Franky and Jacs instantly seen me as such a threat. Sometimes, I think if I’d just kept my head down, my little girl would still be here, but it’s too late now. The ironic thing, I was only on remand back then, even found not fucking guilty of those charges – this place – it’s poison. Be thankful Franky got out when she did.” How am I supposed to reply to that?  
“No, I can’t begin to understand what you went through, the pain you felt and still do feel, trying to deal with all of that on your own and in a place like this. As a mother now myself, I’ll be honest with you – if anyone even lay a finger on my Olivia – I’d kill them too, and I know Franky wouldn’t think twice as well. We’d both die for her.” I say, tears in my own eyes.  
“I prayed I could swap places with her – more than anything I wanted to be the one Jacs killed, it was me she had the issue with – but no, she was a monster – the very worst, my Debbie was just an innocent kid and she took her life to prove a point. How I was she was still alive when I put a bullet in that bastard’s head – I got two for the price of one with that bullet anyway – I single handily took down the most feared crime family.”  
“I presume you mean Vinny? Heart attack or something wasn’t it?”  
“Yep – just wish it was a more painful way to go. Bridget, I hope you understand from all this – I’m not crazy, not at all, I was just a pissed off mother, seeking revenge, but I’m finished killing people now – and I’m not going to hurt myself again – that was just necessary that one time.”  
“I don’t believe you do have any mental health issues, nor do I believe you ever did – you’re one of the most balanced inmates I’ve ever worked with – it’s just going to take a bit, trying to convince others – because you must admit – on paper, it does look pretty crazy.” She laughs, and so do I, it’s true – it’s a ridiculous situation, if it was anyone else they’d be in psych but everything she says is, as far as I’m concerned 100% the truth, we can only hope when I present my finding they’ll be taken seriously. 

Chp50  
I have such a busy week ahead of me, actually Bridget and I both do – I have an ongoing court case, I’m seeing Bea to discuss any progress with her appeal, Vera has a few new clients for me as well – apparently just drugs charges and also Doreen, so shouldn’t be too difficult, then to top the week off its Vera’s bachelorette party – I was adamant that I wanted to go as well, so we’re organising Will’s for two weeks’ time, that’ll give him a whole week to sober up before the wedding – hopefully enough time.  
I’m currently sitting in my office at Strathon & Myers, this has been a rarity in recent months – as I feel like I’ve spent most of my time at the prison, how ironic.  
“Hey Franky, you have a minute?” Marcus says, appearing in the doorway.  
“Hey boss – yeah sure come in.” I say as he takes a seat opposite me.  
“Right, so I’ll just get straight to it. If you’re interested, we want you, starting next week to be full-time at Wentworth, the Government have provided us with a new contract – basically now making us the lawyers for the Department of Corrections in Melbourne. Your role, should you accept will be head of this new department – you’ll get to pick your own team of course: lawyers, paralegals, personal assistant, admin assistants and forensic psychologist – all of which will be in-house to work on the cases. As with any promotion, you can expect a salary increase – given you will be running an entire department, as well as being a Partner, you can expect that increase to be in the region of $100,000 per year, excluding any bonuses. So what do you reckon Franky? Got what it takes?” Marcus finally finishes and I’m trying to absorb all of the information I’ve been given.  
“Wow – okay Marcus that has totally thrown me, I honestly wasn’t expecting you to say that when you walked in here. Well, as I’m sure you’ll appreciate, this is definitely a conversation I’ll need to have with Bridget – it’s an amazing opportunity and it’s incredible the women will now get proper representation whenever they need it. Is this just at Wentworth or other prisons as well? I ask.  
“Currently, the Government want to trial us at Wentworth, I think their plan – if all goes well, will be to roll it out elsewhere – probably getting other law firms involved too.”  
“Interesting – okay well I’ll discuss it this with Bridget tonight and see what her views are – oh, and a forensic psychologist on the team? And I get to pick my own people?” I raise my eyebrows at him.  
“Yeah I know – it’s totally up to you Franky, you can go there if you want, but go talk to your wife first anyway.” Marcus says, standing up to leave.  
“That’s your hint to go home Franky – it’s after 7pm, go be with your family.” I nod as he leaves and start to pack up my things.  
Half an hour later I’m home, I walk in to the Livingroom expecting to find Bridget with Olivia – but to my surprise Boomer is still here.  
“Oh – hey Booms, Bridget not home yet?” I say – stepping in further, normally my way is home before me.  
“Hi Franky – yeah she is.” Boomer says in reply.  
“Okay…where is she then?” I ask, waiting on her to expand.  
“She looked really tired Franky – so I told her to go relax for a bit until you got home, you should go check on her.”  
“Oh, thanks Booms, that was really sweet of you, she’s had some tough sessions at Wentworth recently – it’s probably that.” I say with a smile as I move towards our bedroom, grateful to have such caring people in my life.  
“Gidge, you okay?” I tap on the door of the ensuite, which is slightly ajar – I poke my head in the door and find my wife in the bathtub, covered in bubbles.  
“Oh hey Franky.” She says, opening her eyes, which I notice are red and have dark circles underneath them. I move further into the room and position myself on the edge of the tub, brining my hand up to stroke through her hair.  
“You look tired sweetie.” I say to her, continuing to stroke my hand back and forth.  
“Hmm – just tough sessions recently. A few are getting to me.” I bring my hand down so it cups her cheek and she leans into the touch.  
“How are they getting to you?” I say concerned, my wife is normally very good at compartmentalising – and usually it’s easy for her to switch off from work once she gets home.  
“Well – one of the women, who has a child, has discovered her boyfriend – who looks after the kid, is having an affair and actually wants me to help her get her kid brought back to the prison, all because she’s jealous.” I’m taking in what my wife is saying, when she suddenly let’s out a sob that I wasn’t expecting.  
“Hey – hey come on, it’s okay.” I say, leaning down over the tub to kiss her on the head a few times.  
“No Franky, she’s demanding this from me – she won’t take no for an answer.” Alarm bells start going off in my head, obviously knowing what some of the women were capable of.  
“Look at me baby.” I say, lifting her chin so she meets my eyes.  
“She’s not hurt you or anything has she? Or said something?” she lets out even more tears at this, and I don’t even care that I’m fully clothed, I slide into the bathtub and sit behind my distraught wife, pulling her into my arms and holding her tightly.  
“She said – she said I was a terrible mother! And – and that she felt sorry for Olivia because she has us for parents!” Bridget’s sobs have become so loud and uncontrollable, Boomer even pokes her head in the door to make sure we’re okay, I just give her a nod and a sad smile and turn my attention back to my wife.  
“Oh baby – you know that’s not true, you’re the best mummy Olivia could ever have! Please don’t let this upset you. Who said all of this? You need to tell me so I can report it homey, no one should say these sort of things to anyone.” I say this to Bridget, however I know reporting it will do fuck all, I mostly want a name so I can deal with this my own way.  
“Okay Franky – it was Doreen, she wants Joshua back.” I flinch at hearing this, how dare she talk like that to my wife.  
“Doreen said that to you? I’m going to fucking kill her – that ungrateful bitch!” I am so angry right now; I just can’t believe after everything I’ve done for her – this is what thanks I get.  
“No Franky – you can’t do anything, please promise me.” She turns her head so she can look me in the eyes, I hate when she gives me this look.  
“Okay, okay don’t worry I won’t get myself in any trouble, I promise.” I kiss her lips, thinking it doesn’t mean I can’t have a word with Doreen tomorrow when we have our meeting to review her drug charges – timing couldn’t be any better.  
“What are you planning? I know that look Franky.” I forget just how well my wife knows me.  
“Well, I happen to have an appointment with Doreen tomorrow, discussing an appeal she wishes to submit – don’t worry, I’m just going to have a quiet word with her.” I reassure,  
“That better be all, I don’t want you brought up on any assault charges.” I laugh slightly at this and kiss Bridget again.  
“Right – time to get out babe, I am still fully clothed after all!”  
“Franky! I never even noticed! I’m sorry.”  
“Seriously? You didn’t know I had my work clothes on? Ha, well I’ll do anything to comfort you Gidge, absolutely anything.”  
Later that night, Boomer has left, Olivia is in her crib and Bridget and I are cuddled up in bed, just enjoying the presence of one another.  
“Hey Gidge – have some news I need to discuss with you, it’s about work.” I say softly, she untangles from me slightly, just enough so she can look at me.  
“What about darling?”  
“Well, Marcus has offered me a promotion – the Government have given the firm a new contact for the Department of Corrections, to give inmates access to free legal assistance. They’re trialling it at Wentworth – and Marcus wants me to be head of the new department, I would get to pick a whole team to work with me, if I accept I would be at Wentworth full-time from next Monday. What do you think?”  
“Are you being serious? Franky that’s great! This opportunity would allow you to do what you’ve always wanted and help reform inmates and give them the best legal counsel – something you had to teach yourself because no help was available! I’m so proud of you!” it always makes me beam when my wife says she’s proud of me, it’s something she’s said to me from the very start of our relationship and it’s definitely up there with ‘I love you’.  
“So you think I should accept then yeah? I’m really excited about this prospect I must say.”  
“Of course baby! This is career changing! An entire department of people working under you. Ah, this is your dream!”  
“It sure is – I was hoping though, that maybe – it could be our dream together.” I say, looking at her and waiting for a reaction.  
“Huh? What are you talking about Franky? I don’t understand.” She’s so cute when she pulls her confused face.  
“Well, you see – I’m going to need to hire a psychologist to work with me on this new team, and what’s the point of looking elsewhere, when the best psychologist in Australia is in bed with me right now?”  
“Seriously? You would want me on your team?” she says, shocked.  
“Oh baby, I think it’s pretty clear – you’re already on my team.” I say, grabbing her behind and pulling her up so she’s straddling me.  
“Franky! You know what I meant.” I pull her lips down to mine in a heated kiss.  
“Yes, I want you Bridget, I want you on my team, please say you’ll come with me?” I say the last three words in a seductive tone, and that does the trick.  
“Of course I’ll come with you Franky, always – and in more ways than one, so yes after the first, which I expect in the next five minutes – I’ll also do the second – I’ll join your team.” And with that, I know for a fact I’m going to be exhausted at work tomorrow.  
The next afternoon I wait in my office for Doreen to show up for our scheduled appointment – I really have no idea if she knows I’m going to be representing her but if not she’ll soon find out. Moments later she appears at the door flanked by Miss Miles. I told Linda about the incident earlier so she said she would wait outside the door – just in case.  
“Hi Franky, be back later to get her.”  
“Cheers Linda.” I say, Doreen looks a little bit scared as Miss Miles leaves, closing the door behind her, and I start walking towards her rather than offering her a seat.  
“HI Franky – so you’re the lawyer for representing the women as well? Not just teaching and stuff?” she asks as I step right in front of her, so we are face-to-face.  
“Well, you see Doreen – I get to hear an inmates case, then decide if I want to be their lawyer or not based on how I think I can help, or at least that’s normally the case – but when I find out someone that I once regarded as a close friend calls my wife a terrible mother to our daughter – that really pisses me off. I’m not at all happy Doreen, I don’t like returning home from work to an upset wife – understood? So, you’re gonna apologise to her, and if you do, I won’t need to get Red involved – fail to say you’re sorry for being a bitch – and I’ll have no choice, so it’s up to you – what’s it going to be?” I say, looking at her in disgust, to think she used to be a trusted friend.  
“I’m so sorry Franky – don’t tell Bea, please! I’ll apologise okay? I will, I promise!”  
“Okay – but you better – now get out of here, I can’t even stand to look at you right now, you disgust me.” With that she scampers out of the office, where Miss Miles is waiting, I give her a knowing nod and then shut the door. 

Bridget POV

“I have never been happier it’s the weekend babe! I can’t wait for tonight; you realise this will be our first proper night out in over a year? How crazy is that!” I say, as Franky and I get ready for the bachelorette party.  
“Tell me about it! We totally need this night out. I mean, don’t get me wrong I love Olivia more than anything, but being a parent is way tougher than I anticipated! Franky says.  
“You seriously thought having a child wouldn’t be too difficult! Ha, Jesus Franky, how do you think I feel? Most women who are my age have teenagers, I have a six month old – that I breastfeed.”  
“I think Olivia takes after me Gidge, I mean, I can’t get enough of your boobies either – they were incredible before but now? Wow, they’re on a different level!” Franky walks behind me and proceeds to massage my breasts over the dress I’m wearing – I allow myself to enjoy the moment.  
“Boobies? How old are you? Babe, that feels amazing but not too hard, I don’t want to leak on my dress.”  
“Ugh talk about mood killer Gidget.” She stops her movements on my breasts and moves down to my ass instead.  
“This better?” she asks in a raspy voice.  
“Mhmm, but we need to stop before you take this too far, it’s time to go, we can’t be late – I organised it after all.” She lets out a huff, gives me a quick kiss then leaves the bedroom.  
Two hours later and the party has well and truly started, the music is pumping, drinks are flowing and everyone seems to be having a great time. I decided to hire out a private room in a club to host it, gives us somewhere a little quieter for what I have planned later.  
“What’s that look for Gidge? What are you planning?” my wife says, walking up to me and handing me some sort of cocktail.  
“It’s a surprise babe – I can’t say.”  
“But I’m your wife! Come on Gidget – just a clue.” It’s funny when Franky is like this, she absolutely hates not knowing what’s going on.  
“No darling – you’ll just need to wait and like everyone else.” I say, placing a kiss to the pout she now has on her face.  
“Fine! Whatever – I don’t care anyway.” She says, turning and walking away, soon disappearing from sight into the crowded room.  
An hour later, and its time for me to take to the stage for the surprise I’ve been planning I’m a bit tipsy now – so I’m going to tease my wife for a bit before introducing the real entertainment.  
“Ladies, your attention please!” I call out from my position on the raised platform – all eyes turn towards me, including my wife’s – I make eye contact with her and then give her a knowing smile, her eyebrows knit in confusion at me.  
“I have a surprise for you Vera, but before I begin I need to say that it’s been a while so I might be a bit rusty. Can you start the music please.” I say towards the DJ who is in on my little plan. I move over to where a pole has been erected and start to move my body against it, then I jump up, wrap both legs around it and slide down to the floor – never once breaking eye contact with Franky. The crowd cheers and chants for more, but before I can do anything further, my wife appears in front of me, lifting me up and carrying me off the stage, everyone boos at her actions.  
“What the hell Gidge?” she says, as I’m still securely in her arms, legs wrapped around her waist.  
“Ooh I like when you get all protective babe – it’s hot.” I whisper in her ear.  
“You’re too easy by the way – did you really think I was actually going to strip in front of everyone? Yes, I did that in college – quite often, but I wasn’t over forty and a mother then.” I tease, looking back to her face before leaning in to peck her lips.  
“Well, the way you were working that pole – I wasn’t sure what you had planned.”  
“I was just warming the stage up, don’t you worry – look, that’s the professionals coming on now.” I say, as she places me back on the ground before turning to the stage.  
“Ha! You got a mixed cast I see! Good plan, keeps everyone happy I guess.” As Franky says this, I look to the crowd and see Vera, huge grin on her face and giving me two thumbs up.  
“Exactly! This way we can enjoy the show too – however, I was kind of hoping we could have our own little show somewhere quieter.” I give her the look, and she knows exactly what I mean.  
“Oh really? You wanna have dirty bathroom sex with your wife?” I can’t help the little groan that escapes my lips at the thought.  
“Yes, and then I want you to take me home so we can make love all night, let’s take full advantage of being baby free.” She picks me up again and I squeal as she starts walking towards the club toilets.  
“Music to my ears babe, your little performance has got me so turned on.” And with that, she moves into a bathroom stall – I already know I won’t be getting any sleep at all tonight. 

Chp51  
It’s finally the day we’ve all been looking forward to for months now – and I am so stressed out, as maid of honour – I have a lot of duties that need to be performed today, such as: helping Vera get ready, coordinate the guests and keep them informed of what is happening, make sure the bride doesn’t drink too much pre-vows (that’s an important one) and then there’s my big moment of the day – where I deliver a speech about the bride and groom – can’t say I’m really looking forward to that.  
“Hey babe, when are you leaving for Vera’s? Will’s in the spare room – I think he’s nervous, he just keeps pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself.” Franky says, approaching me as I get my dress and other necessities ready to take around to Vera’s so we can get ready together with Maura.  
“Oh hi, umm well I should have left fifthteen minutes ago, but Olivia has picked today of all days to cry constantly, I don’t know what’s wrong with her Franky – I’ve tried everything I can think of but she won’t “stop.” I let out a defeated sigh, turning to look at my wife.  
“Where is she anyway?” Franky asks.  
“In her bouncer, she’s stopped wailing, but she’s still not happy.” I point over to the other side of the room, Franky follows my finger and I can see the expression on her face fall when she sees our daughter’s tear stained face.  
“Oh my poor little baby.” She says, striding over to Olivia and swiftly picking her up, planting kisses over her face and tickling her – making her laugh a little.  
“Oh – Gidge, come here.” Franky says, I walk over to them immediately.  
“What is it Franky?” I ask as my wife seems to be inspecting our daughters mouth.  
“Well, it appears we’ve reached another milestone – one that definitely explains why little Olivia ere hasn’t been too happy.” I look at Franky, expectantly waiting for her to continue.  
“Just look here.” She says, opening Olivia’s little mouth wider with her fingers. That’s when I see it.  
“Oh our little girl is in pain Franky – I knew those cries today were different.” I say, looking at the offending part.  
“Calm down babe – she’s just cutting her first tooth, she’ll be fine. We bought those chew ring things for her last month so I’ll give her one and see if that helps, if not I’ll run to the pharmacy and get some of that numbing gel we can put on it, okay?”  
“You always know what to do Franky.” I say, leaning up slightly to kiss her cheek.  
“I’m learning just like you – I think the secret is to stay calm though, I mean, she’s not the first baby to be teething so it’s all okay.” I give her a smile at this.  
“You’re right – well I should be going now, can you put Olivia in the car for me while I load everything else?”  
“Why don’t I get her ready here? You have so much to do already, Will and I will take no time to get ready and then if need be I’ll stop by a pharmacy on the way to the church. What you think?”  
“I think I love you. Thank you baby, that’ll make my life a lot easier, especially now with the whole tooth thing – can you honestly believe that happened today?” I say in disbelief at the timing.  
“I know – it’s crazy bad luck. Anyway, go – Vera will be freaking out – and Maura is probably being no help at all, all she can talk about recently is Erica and babies!” Franky says with an eye roll.  
“She’s just excited – but yes you’re right, I’ll get going before Vera can kill her.” I laugh, give Franky and Olivia a kiss goodbye and head to the car with all of my stuff in tow. 

Franky POV  
“Change of plan Will, we’re taking Olivia with us, she’s getting her first tooth – and Bridget will be far too busy to deal with her, and your soon-to-be wife.” I say, walking into the guest room where Will is still pacing.  
“Aw poor Olivia – will she be okay for today? Vera and I would understand if you decided to leave her with someone.” Will says, coming over and takin my daughter from me, settling her in his strong, muscular arms. I can’t help but smile at the sight, and at his protectiveness of her.  
“Thanks Will, but she should be okay – if she gets any worse I’ll drop by the pharmacy and get some of that numbing gel for her.”  
“Okay – you know what’s best.” He says, giving me a grin, before getting to caught up in making a fuss over Olivia again.  
“Well if you watch her for like half an hour – I’ll get myself ready – then we can swap, that okay?” I ask, already knowing what his answer will be.  
“Yep, that’s fine – we’ll be okay won’t we Olivia?” he coos at her, as I say my thanks and leave the room to get ready for the big day.  
True to my word, thirty minutes later I return – only to find them both fast asleep – Olivia laying on top of Will’s chest – him with a protective hand on her back, holding her in place. I can’t resist taking a photo of them, it’s far too cute not to.  
“Will, hey – wakey wakey – go get ready now, we have a wedding to attend.” I say, picking Olivia up and holding her in both my arms as she continues to nap.  
“What’s the time?” he asks, sleepily.  
“It’s 11.30am, still have an hour before we need to leave.” He gets up to retrieve his tux, which is hanging in the closet.  
“Okay, shouldn’t take me long.”  
“Well I need to get Olivia ready anyway so no rush.” I say, walking out the door and heading towards the nursery.  
Twenty minutes later, and much to my surprise – Olivia is still fast asleep as I change her nappy and put on her dress, she really must have tired herself out earlier with all that crying.  
Once I’m finished she’s still snoozing so I put her in her stroller – still something we don’t use often, but I think it will be necessary today so we can put her down for regular naps.  
“Right Franky, that’s me ready – you got the rings yeah?” I tap my tux pocket to emphasise that I have them, then we make our way to the car, where I detach the car seat from the stroller, securing Olivia as Will puts her stuff in the boot.  
“You ready then Will?” I ask as we begin to drive to the church.  
“As I’ll ever be I guess – a bit nervous, but excited too.” I just smile at him as we make our way down the streets, before we know it we’ve arrived – and thirty minutes early. 

Bridget POV  
When I arrived to help Vera an hour ago, she was already in meltdown – and Maura, as I suspected, had done nothing to help calm her down. Thankfully now the three of us are ready and we can finally relax a bit. The car to take us to the church is outside and waiting, we’re just making sure we have everything before leaving. The drive only takes ten minutes from here so we have plenty of time.  
“Is that us ready then? Car is waiting outside.” I say, as we move towards the front door.  
“Yeah, let’s go – I’m nervous as well, but that’s only normal.” Vera says, as the three of us walk to the car. I help her get in, being careful not to mess up her dress.  
Just like I thought, ten minutes later we are pulling up outside, I spot mine and Franky’s Mercedes immediately, indicating the groom and my family have already arrived.  
“Let’s get this show on the road then.” Maura says, getting out of the car, as Vera and I follow.  
“Hello ladies, you all look lovely.” Franky says, approaching us with Olivia in her arms.  
“Oh she’s so cute! I’m so happy we picked this dress.” I say to Vera and Maura.  
“She looks adorable.” Vera adds.  
“Right – so we ready then? Maura – you’re walking down first with Alex, Will’s rugby friend – he will try and hit on you, just a warning – tell him you’re a lesbian and you should be safe.” Franky says with a wink in Maura’s direction.  
“Then it’s you and me babe – oh and not forgetting the little show stealer here. You can carry her down, and Erica will be waiting in the second row on the left to take her.” I nod my head in acknowledgement.  
“That leaves you Vera – you’ll then walk down after us, where you’ll be met at the alter by your groom, who is drying to see you by the way.” Franky says as we make our way inside. She hands Olivia to me, who is barely awake from her nap. Music starts and that is our cue to move. Alex joins us, immediately taking Maura’s arm and looping it through his own.  
“You look super-hot.” Is the only thing we hear him say as they begin to walk, Franky and I both share a laugh, then before we know it, it’s our turn to start walking. With Franky in her tux and me in a dress, it feels like our big day all over again – except ours was on a beach, and the baby that is currently in my arms was definitely not present. We quickly reach the end of the aisle, I pass Olivia to Erica and take my position next to Maura, Franky stands behind Will, next to Alex.  
The music then changes and Vera appears, making her descent down the aisle to the alter. I look over at Will, who has a huge grin on his face and tears in his eyes as he watches his bride get closer. He puts his hand out towards her when she’s close enough and she gladly accepts his help up the three steps.  
“You look gorgeous.” I hear him whisper to Vera.  
“You look so handsome.” She replies, tears in her own eyes.  
The entire ceremony is a blur, it is over before we know it and soon we’re making our way out of the church, and on our way to the hotel for the reception. I spot Erica standing outside, Olivia once again asleep in her arms as she waits for us.  
“Hi Erica – thanks so much for looking after her, hope she wasn’t too fussy, not sure if Franky told you but she’s getting her first tooth in.” I say, as Erica moves Olivia over to me, careful not to wake her.  
“She was fine Bridget, very good considering she’s teething.” Erica replies, as Maura and Franky join us.  
“They’re planning on doing photos at the hotel, apparently is has a really nice garden – so I’m driving us there, Vera and Will are taking the Rolls Royce.” My wife says, as we start to make our way to where the car is parked.  
“Only about a twenty-minute journey in case anyone wondered.” Franky adds, we nod our heads as I strap Olivia into her car seat and we then set off to the next location.  
After all the photos are taken, the meal is finished and the cake is cut, it’s time for the speeches, my palms are getting sweaty and my mouth dry as I look out into the crowd of roughly 100 people. Franky takes my hand in her own and gives it a reassuring squeeze, I look into her eyes and feel myself instantly calm.  
“You’ll be fine Gidge – I’m going first anyway, and you know how bad I am at writing this sort of thing.” She says, kissing me, while moving her fingers in a soothing motion across my knuckles.  
“Yeah, but it’s you Franky – Jesus, you’d stand up here naked and give your speech if Will dared you.” We both laugh then she gives me a serious look.  
“Gidge – if me being naked doing my speech would help and calm you, I’d do it in an instant.” The way she’s looking at me, I genuinely don’t think she’s joking.  
“Well babe – I think if you were naked right now it would work me up, more than calm me down. Thanks for the kind offer though – might take you up on your nakedness later on.” I say, leaning in to give her a kiss.  
“Anything for you baby – I love you.” She says sincerely.  
“I love you too.”  
Soon enough – too soon really, it’s the speeches, Franky goes first and I’m curious to hear what she’s written, she never shared it with me.  
“Hello everyone – my name is Franky and I’ve been given the honour by Will of being his ‘best man’. As many of you probably know, I did not meet the bride and groom in the most traditional of ways, however, over the last few years we have become great friends – they are both an extension to my family. I remember, way back in the day, I always thought you two were suited to one another, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when you first told us you were dating, and then subsequently became engaged. I would like to say how gorgeous you look today Vera, and Will – you don’t scrub up too bad yourself! Also, a big thank you to the lovely bridesmaids for all the hard work they’ve put in to toady. Lastly, if we could all stand and raise our glasses to the happy couple – and for the first time, let me introduce to you, Mr and Mrs Jackson.” ‘How the hell am I supposed to follow that?’ I think as everyone once again sits down, all eyes are now on me, waiting for me to begin. I stand up and look around the room, still feeling very nervous, as if she senses my apprehension, Franky grabs onto my hand, much like she did earlier.  
“Good evening everyone, well firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to my wife, the ‘best man’ for that lovely speech she just delivered – I feel like there may be a slight competition happening now to see who gets the bigger applause!” the room laughs at this as I take a few seconds to further compose myself.  
“What can I say really, congratulations to the happy couple, you two are meant to be together and there’s no doubt in my mind you will have a lifetime of happiness in your future. If we can once again raise our glasses in a toast to the bride and groom, Mr and Mrs Jackson.” I say as champagne flutes are thrusted in the air again.  
“You did great baby, I’m proud of you.” Franky whispers in my ear once I sit back down.  
“Thank you darling – but isn’t that my line?” I say, turning to kiss her.  
“One of the first things you told me when I got out, just before you said ‘I love you’ for the first time.”  
“You remembered?” I say, eyebrows raised.  
“Of course, I remember everything you’ve ever said to me.”  
“Aww, my mushy, cute wife.” She just rolls her eyes then kisses me again.  
“Just don’t tell anyone, I need to try and keep up my bad ass persona.” Franky says and I just laugh.  
“Darling, I think that went out the window the first time you held Olivia – everyone knows, hate to tell you it’s no secret.”  
“Yeah, yeah whatever – where is our daughter anyway? Don’t tell me Maura and Erica are off with her again – I know they said they want a baby, but they can’t have Olivia – we already have claim to her.”  
“Franky! They just like being with her, and I’m not complaining – however, right now I think we should find her and check on that tooth.” I say, Franky agrees and we go and look for her.  
“Bridget, Franky – over here!” we hear Vera call us before we can properly look for Olivia.  
“Hey Vera – where’s the husband?” Franky asks with a wink.  
“He’s mingling with the guests – that’s what you’re supposed to do at your wedding Franky.” Vera retorts – I look to my wife and the great Franky Doyle is actually blushing!  
“Umm – well yeah – we did come back…after – you know-”  
“Yes Franky – much to my delight I think all of our guest know what we were up to when we disappeared for almost an hour.” I interrupt.  
“Hey – no one can blame me, you were just incredible that day, I could wait to get that dress of you!”  
“Aww thanks baby!” I kiss Franky on the lips and then we hear Vera cough loudly.  
“Yes?” Franky says to her.  
“Can I umm – borrow Bridget for a minute?”  
“Why?” Franky asks instantly, not liking to be left out of what’s going on.  
“Well, my garter belt seems to have loosened and my stocking are falling down, I can’t see with this dress on to fix it and put them back on.”  
“Okay, seems legit – she’s all yours. Oh, just a heads up though, my wife is usually better at removing pieces of clothing, not putting them back on.” Franky gives me a wink and it’s my turn to blush. I just grab Vera’s arm and head towards the toilets, turning before I’m out of sight to find my wife almost doubled over laughing. 

Franky POV  
“Jesus, what’s so funny over here?” Will approaches asking.  
“Nothing much mate – so, how’s the day then? Had a good time?” I ask, as we walk over to the bar to buy him a scotch.  
“It’s been great, I’m so happy Franky – and everyone’s here so yeah a good day.” I smile widely at him as I hand him his drink.  
“Good, hey have you seen Olivia anywhere? We literally have no clue where our own daughter is! How ridiculous is that?” I laugh, but more out of disbelief.  
“Oh yeah Erica was holding her – or should I say showing her off. Her and Maura are going to make great parents.” Will says.  
“We thought that’s where she’d be – they’re obsessed with her, but it’s cute. They really will when the time comes, and speaking of, what about you and Vera, any plans like that?” I ask, genuinely interested.  
“If it happens, it happens – we’d both like it I guess – spoke about it so I guess now is when we go for it and see.”  
“Good, I’m glad to hear, because you’d make such a wonderful dad Will. I’m so glad Olivia has a strong man like you in her life as a role model.” I say, just then we are joined by Vera and Bridget.  
“Well, we’ll leave the bride and groom to have some alone time, we’ll probably head home soon with Olivia so if we don’t see you again, congratulations once more and thanks for having us involved in such a great and memorable day.” Bridget says as we leave them to it, and go and find our daughter.  
Ten minutes later we finally locate her – fast asleep in her stroller with Erica and Maura by her side.  
“Hi, thanks so much for looking after her most of the day, that was really great Erica – we appreciate it.” I say as we step closer to them, my wife of course leaning into the stroller to check on the sleeping baby.  
“It was no problem – you guys had far too much going on, plus it was great practice for me.” Erica says as Maura leans up to kiss her on the cheek.  
“Well thank you regardless – we’re just going to head home now and get Olivia to bed, it’s been a long and busy day and I know that her tooth will be bothering her.” Bridget says, and with final goodbyes, my wife and I each hold onto the stroller and start pushing it to the car, excited to just get home and into bed after such a hectic day. 

Chp52  
It’s now the first week in August, we have decided to take our first family holiday with Olivia, we have a plane to catch soon, and we’re very excited. After much discussion with Marcus and Vera, it was decided that my new permanent role at Wentworth would be better starting after Bridget and I return – Bridget has informed the university that she will now not be returning at all. I have yet to pick an entire team of people, it’s a lot harder than I initially thought it would be, after all I’ll be working with these people five days a week so I need to ensure I get on with them. The interviews I’ve conducted so far have been quite bad – but if I’m being honest I’m not entirely sure what to be looking for, especially in a personal assistant, I mean, I’m not exactly one to let people do things for me, so that may be an issue.  
“Franky – where are you?” I hear my wife call as I walk back into the house, having just loaded our suitcases into the car.  
“In the hall babe – are you and Olivia ready to go? The car is loaded.” My wife appears, carrying our daughter, with a nappy bag on her shoulder.  
“yes, we’re ready to go – oh I’m so excited Franky! Our first family holiday.” Bridget says as I guide her out the door and to the car.  
“I know – I just hope Olivia will be okay with the flight, I read that babies ears can bother them a lot – because of the pressure and stuff, also with her teething right now she’s already in pain from that-”  
“Hey hey hey – calm down, don’t worry about something that’s not happened yet darling, okay?” Bridget says, moving to hold my hand as she sits in the passenger seat.  
“I know, I know – I’m being one of those crazy worrier parents, I’ll stop.” I say, leaning over to peck her lips quickly before driving off towards the airport.  
“Four hours later, we are on the plane – it has just taken off, and just like I worried – Olivia is not handling it well.  
“I think it must be her ears Franky, once we’re at a steady altitude the pressure should ease off a bit – hopefully she’ll quieten down by then.” Bridget says, stroking Olivia’s back up and down as I hold her to my chest.  
“I hope that theory is correct babe, because this is a very long flight – and we’re gonna piss off a lot of people if she doesn’t stop.” I say, kissing my daughters head repeatedly, trying to give her any form of comfort.  
“Well, she’s just a baby, I know it’s annoying but Olivia doesn’t know any better right now.” Bridget says, leaning over to give me a quick kiss.  
“I guess – do you want to take her for a bit? She might settle better with you.” I remove Olivia from my chest and hold her out slightly towards Bridget.  
“It won’t hurt to try I guess – come here baby.” My wife says, Olivia let’s out her first happy gurgling noise of the flight so far when she’s snuggled up on Bridget’s chest.  
“You must be comfier than I am Gidge.” I say, looking down to Bridget’s chest, where Olivia is using her as a human pillow.  
“Well – yes I think there is clear evidence to support that theory.” She laughs, looking down at the now quiet baby – whom is falling into a peaceful sleep.  
Another four hours pass – I am getting seriously bored on this plane now, I really don’t know what possessed us to take such a long flight – but we’ve both always wanted to travel there – we actually have friends who moved two years ago so we’re visiting them, they are being kind enough to take Olivia so Bridget and I can go to an Adele concert on Saturday night – not my idea of fun but Bridget begged me to go. It’ll be worth it once we land, and it’s summer season so it’ll be nice and warm – an added bonus.  
“Gidge, how much longer? I’m so bored – what are you reading? Is it any good? It looks like a big book.”  
“Franky, shut up! What’s with all the questions? Firstly, there’s still at least six hours to go – you knew what you signed up for when we booked this trip, and I’m reading a new psychology journal, it’s very interesting actually. I told you to bring something to keep you entertained, would you like your iPad?” I smile and nod my head eagerly at this.  
“Thanks Gidge, oh damn! I forgot to download the new American Horror Story episodes – I was wanting to watch that.” I say with a huff.  
“Well, good thing you have the most amazing and thoughtful wife the, huh?” she says, turning the iPad to face me, showing she’s downloaded every episode of the new season.  
“I knew I married you for a reason!” I beam as I go to take my iPad from her, she moves it out of arms reach.  
“So that’s the only reason you married me? So I would download your TV shows?” Bridget says with a mock pout on her lips.  
“You know there’s many reasons why I did baby – it’s just a bonus you remember these things – that’s all.” I say, kissing her soundly on the lips.  
“You just wanted my body.” She says with a wink.  
“Oh you have no idea, but I love everything about you – the fact you’re the most beautiful women I’ve ever laid eyes on really is a bonus.” I take her hand and stroke my fingers over her knuckles.  
“You’re just too sweet sometimes – anyway, watch your show, I think I’ll try and get some sleep before Olivia wakes up, love you.”  
“Okay, have a nice nap – love you too.”  
Finally – after what feels like days, we are in sunny Los Angeles – I have never been more excited!  
“Gidge, this hotel is out of this world, Jesus – Olivia practically has her own nursery set up in there.”  
“I know, I called and said we were travelling with a baby and they recommended this room, not exactly cheap but we’re staying for ten days so worth it I think.” I smile at this and move to place Olivia in the crib.  
“So – I say room service and a chilled night in the hotel, that flight was exhausting!” Bridget says, pulling me over to the huge king sized bed.  
“I agree with you, absolutely! Plus, Olivia is already out of it anyway.”  
“We could rent a movie to watch or something, then plan out what we’re going to do each day, I know we’re meeting Ally and Sam in a few days so they can take us places, then there’s the concert as well which will be good, so great of them to take Olivia overnight for us.” My wife says.  
“Well, I don’t think a baby and a concert at The Hollywood Bowl mix.” I laugh.  
“Correct – I just hope Olivia will be okay with them, she’s never met either of them, plus I hope they’ll be okay with her – remember how young they are! I don’t think they’re used to babies.”  
“Babe, relax – they offered, it’ll be fine – they are mature for their ages, so what if they aren’t quite thirty yet? It’s only one night.”  
“I know; I mean I’ve known Sam since she was Olivia’s age! I used to be the one that would watch her when her parents went out – I never thought I’d see the day she was looking after my kid.”  
“Well her and Al will be fine, I’m sure of it.”  
The next day, the three of us are out walking along Sunset Boulevard – I have Olivia strapped to my chest, I’m sweating though because it is so warm, and I’m starting to get worried Olivia will overheat.  
“Hey Gidget – I think I’ll take Olivia out of the carrier and just hold her in my arms – if I’m sweating this much I dread to think how hot she is.” I say, stopping so we can lift her out.  
“Yeah good idea – she’s starting to wake up actually. Hi baby.” Bridget coos as she moves to hold her.  
“You wanna just carry her for a bit then babe?” I ask Bridget.  
“Yeah that’s fine – can you take her bag? The carrier should fit in it if you fold it up.” I take the bag and the carrier fits in it no problem. I spot a tattoo parlour across the street and can’t help but go and have a look.  
“Babe, I’m going to check out that tattoo place, you coming with or are you looking at the craft place?” I ask, impatiently dying to run across the street.  
“You go ahead, we’ll come over and join you once I’m done.” I give her a quick kiss then head over to have a look.  
Ten minutes later and I’m inside looking at tattoo designs, I’ve been itching to get another for ages now, I have a full sleeve on my right arm – but my left is a blank canvas still, I would love to get something dedicated to my wife and daughter – but unsure what would represent them.  
“Hi – you need any help?” a woman, roughly in her late twenties, blonde hair, blue eyes – at least 5’10 – super hot asks me as I just stare at her, slight smile playing on my lips.  
“Umm hey – just thinking about getting a new tat, looking for inspiration.” I say, as she walks closer to me.  
“An Aussie! Loving the accent, well you’ve come to the right place for that, where you thinking of getting it?”  
“Well, I’m thinking my left arm – not sure about another full sleeve, maybe just a half this time, I’m only in LA for ten days, and I guess something to commemorate the trip would be kinda cool.” The woman comes even closer, and starts touching my right arm, inspecting the tattoo I have.  
“Pin-up girl? Am I right?” she asks, stroking over the figure, however not breaking eye contact with me.  
“Umm – oh yeah, got that years ago, I’m looking for something a little more sentimental this time around.” I say, stepping back to create some distance.  
“Sentimental? Let me guess – parent? Sibling? In memory of someone?” I shake my head at each, she’s clearly not noticed the ring on my finger.  
“It would be for the two most important people in my life, my wife and my daughter.” I say with a smile, to say she looks shocked would be an understatement.  
“Wife and daughter? Oh – okay, you just don’t look the type, sorry.”  
“No worries, I get that a lot.” Just then, the door opens and in walks Bridget, carrying a wide awake Olivia.  
“Hi Franky, you seen any design you like then?” she asks as I turn and walk towards my two loves.  
“Not yet, I might make an appointment so I can have a proper think.” I take Olivia from her and tickle her belly, making her giggle.  
“Well actually – I was thinking we should get matching ones, obviously I’d put mine somewhere a bit discreet, but I think it would be really romantic.” My eyes go wide in surprise.  
“Seriously? I didn’t think you ever wanted any.” I say, not wanting her to feel any pressure.  
“No I’m sure – I was thinking even just your name, or initials somewhere, that way you’re always with me.”  
“Oh babe, that’s so sweet.”  
“We have a slot available tomorrow afternoon if you both can manage then?” the tattooist adds.  
“That’s fine for me – you alright with that Gidge?”  
“Sounds perfect, oh I’m so excited!”  
“Okay babe calm down, what are we doing then? Matching designs or initials? What would you prefer?” I ask.  
“I’m not bothered Franky; I just want a tattoo with you – that’s all.”  
“Well, why don’t you let me draw us a design? Then we can get them the same so they match.” I say kissing her cheek.  
“Wonderful idea! We can stay in the hotel tonight and you can do it then.” Her smile could not get any wider right now.  
“Of course I can – hey, do you have some paper and pencils so I can sketch some design ideas? And if we can go ahead and book that slot for tomorrow that would be great.2 I direct this to the tattoo artist, who hands me the supplies I’ll need and sets us up for tomorrow.  
“See you both tomorrow then.” We leave the parlour so I can get started on the design.  
Later that night, I’m busy sketching out a few different designs for our tattoos – I’m not a very artsy person, but it seems more special to do it this way.  
“That’s Olivia asleep babe, you almost done?” Bridget asks, joining me in bed.  
“Yeah I’ve done a few but the one I’m working on now is the final draft, I think you’ll like it.” I lean over and kiss her quickly before getting back to it.  
“Do I get to see it?” she enquires with a slight pout.  
“Hmm, I’m not sure…nah okay I will show you, since it’s going to be on your body forever. Where are you going to put it?”  
“I actually don’t know, I said somewhere discreet, but my wife is designing it after all – would be a shame not to show it off.”  
“Just get it wherever you want, make sure you’ll be comfortable with it first though, after all it is permanent!”  
“Yes I know; I’m thinking my wrist actually – I think a tattoo would look good there.” I pick up her wrist, inspect the area, then put my lips to it, giving little kisses all over it.” Bridget squirms around.  
“That’s tickly Franky!” she squeals, retrieving her wrist from the onslaught of kisses.  
“You ready to see the design baby?” she eagerly nods her head and comes even closer to me.  
“Okay, well as you know I’m not an artist, so I kept it quite simple. I’ve drawn the infinity sign – and on my tattoo, I’ll have your name written in it, and on yours you’ll have my name. what do you think?” I ask, nervous to see how she likes them.  
“They’re perfect Franky! I like the simplicity of them, but the meaning says it all.” She leans over and kisses me fully on the lips.  
“I love you – to infinity baby.” I whisper between kisses.  
“I love you – to infinity and back!” she says and I just give her a look.  
“Not possible! Infinity is never ending; you can’t come back if you never finish getting there.” I say smugly.  
“Oh shut up – don’t ruin the moment!”  
The next night, after spending the afternoon getting our couple tattoos, we are out for dinner at The Grove in West Hollywood, Olivia in tow.  
“This food is really great, but far too much! I’m totally not going to be able to move now!” I say as Bridget just laughs.  
“Well they did say that dish was best for at least two people sharing, can’t believe you finished it on your own.” I rub my stomach, feeling how bloated I am.  
“Gidge I literally am so full, remind me to never eat as much again.” She leans over and kisses me – then Olivia lets out a little cry.  
“Oh Olivia – you jealous your mummy is giving me all the attention, huh?” I move to pick Olivia up out of her stroller and give her some kisses before passing her to my wife.  
“Franky we should probably head anyway, Sam and Al are meeting us tomorrow at 10m for breakfast – we don’t want Olivia overtired and sleeping the whole time.”  
“You’re right – let’s head back to the hotel then.” We pay for our food the leave the restaurant, starting the short walk back to our hotel.  
The next morning, we surprisingly oversleep, so it’s a rush to make it to the agreed restaurant for 10am, somehow we just make it in no more.  
“Bridget! Over here!” I hear a voice call to my wife as we step inside, we look around for a few seconds then spot Sam walking towards us. She lunges towards my wife and envelopes her in a huge hug.  
“I’ve missed you Bridget! You look fantastic!” she says, now taking a step back and greeting me with a hug, being careful because Olivia is on my chest.  
“Hi Franky, nice to see you again – oh wow this must be Olivia!” she squeals in excitement as we begin to walk to the table.  
“Sam – calm down. It’s nice to see you again Bridget, Franky.” Al says as we reach the table she is saving for us.  
“Hi girls, I can’t believe it’s been two years! You both look really well, how has LA life been?” Bridget asks.  
“Thanks, we are – well Ally is from her originally as you know, but I love it – best move I’ve ever made.” Sam says. I start to un-attach Olivia from her carrier, Sam and Al watching intently to get a first glimpse of her.  
“She’s beautiful” it’s like looking at a mini Franky!” Sam announces and I can’t help but laugh.  
“She’s got my attitude too.” I say with a smirk; they both just groan.  
“Oh god, is it too late to change our minds about the whole babysitting thing?” Al asks with a laugh.  
“Hey – I’m not that bad, well not always.” I laugh too.  
“Oh my God!” Sam suddenly shrieks, making all of us jump in surprise, then look at her with raised eyebrows.  
“You got a tattoo! Bridget no way! You’re getting to be such a rebel!” Sam says, pointing at my wife’s wrist.  
“Oh yes, we got them yesterday – Franky got it on her wrist too – so we match in location as well.”  
“Aww! You guys are so relationship goals! Sam we should totally do that.”  
“Relationship goals – the hell does that mean?” I ask, confused.  
“It means people should aim to be like you guys – when it comes to their relationship – simple really.” Sam replies.  
“Got ya, thanks – I guess.”  
The rest of breakfast goes well, it’s nice to catch up with the girls, especially for Bridget – her and Sam have always been close.  
On Saturday evening we drop Olivia off at Sam and Al’s apartment, turn out they watch Al’s nephew all the time so have baby stuff already at their place.  
“So, is your mind at ease now Gidge? Clearly not their first rodeo!” we walk hand-in-hand into the venue for the concert, heading towards our seats.  
“Yes, I know – I just forget they are grown women and not little kids sometimes – can you believe they’ve been together longer than we have? Sam’s 28, Al’s 27 and they’ve been together six years, just shows you really, and they’re not even from the same continent!”  
“I know babe – but as they say, at the end of the day – love wins.”

Chp53  
“Ugh – coming back from a holiday and starting work again is definitely the worst! No late nights, afternoon drinking or morning sex! It was so good to do nothing at all and just relax – now we’re back in here, it’s depressing!” Franky says, whining yet again, it’s been constant since our flight landed in Melbourne yesterday afternoon.  
“Franky, I know – I feel exactly the same, but at least we get to spend our work days together now, that must make you a bit happier – no?” I ask my wife as we walk into Wentworth.  
“That’s a good point – I guess morning sex just came back on the agenda then!” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at me before bursting out laughing. I slap her hard on the arm.  
“Oh God, babe your face! I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Honest, don’t hit me again – sorry!” I lean up to give her a quick kiss, letting her know I’m not really mad, before we enter the prison – knowing we should keep the PDA to a minimum during office hours.  
We are immediately greeted by Will, who informs us there is a staff meeting in ten minutes and we are both expected to attend.  
“Okay – we’ll see you in there.” Franky says as we head towards our shared office to drop off our things.  
“You know Gidge, we’ll need to get another office space as well, we can’t both use this one – if you have a session and I have a meeting at the same time it won’t exactly work.”  
“Good point, I never even thought about that actually, we’ll say to Vera at some point.” We head towards the staffroom and take the last two seats available, conveniently next to one another.  
“Okay – so as you all know, or most of you do, there was an incident here last night, we think it was a play to remove Bea Smith as Top Dog – although no one is talking as usual so it’s unclear exactly what went down.” Vera says, addressing everyone.  
“Is everyone okay?” I ask, out of concern.  
“No – we have two dead inmates, three in hospital – and God, don’t even get me started on Novak, she’s hysterical.”  
“Two dead?” Franky asks, I can see the fear in her eyes.  
“Sorry – yes they were recent transfers – both shived during a riot that subsequently took place.” Franky just nods upon hearing the information.  
“How serious are the three in the hospital?” I ask Vera.  
“Bea Smith is one of them, she lost a lot of blood but last time I checked she’s stable, the other two should be coming back later today.”  
“That’s good then.” I say.  
“Bridget, if you could go to H block – talk to Allie Novak, see if you can calm her down a bit before someone permanently shuts her up.”  
“Not happening Vera!” Franky says, standing up.  
“Franky” I say, warning her to watch what she says.  
“No Gidge, Vera listen – you’re not putting my wife that side of the gate hours after a riot – the place will be full of shivs and other weapons, I know you’ll have done a raid, but stuff still gets missed by the guards and dogs – get Novak brought to Bridget, not the other way around.” The room goes quiet as everyone waits for Vera or I to say something in response.  
“You actually have a valid point Franky – I never thought of that, Will, can you make sure Novak is brought to Bridget instead please.” Vera says, I just stay quiet and nod, I don’t mind Franky being protective but to talk about me like I can’t handle myself in front of colleagues – that’s out of line, it could have been suggested discreetly after the meeting.  
Soon enough, the meeting is over, I am first to get up and leave. I can hear Franky call me but I just ignore her – I don’t want an argument in front of an audience. I hear Will comment to her about being in the ‘dog house’ but I’m too far away to hear her reply – if there actually was one.  
Twenty minutes later there is a knock at the office door, I figure it must be Allie Novak, so I call for them to come in.  
“Bridget – I’m so sorry, please don’t be mad at me, I didn’t mean what I said in a condescending way, it’s just as soon as Vera mentioned you going in there I got scared and couldn’t help but think back to previous riots and the sort of danger – even hours after they were over.” Franky says, putting down coffee and some treats on the desk and looking at me shyly.  
“I know you said it for the right reasons – I’d just rather we were a bit more professional while at work – meaning I do my job and you do yours, and if need be, we meet in the middle – the impression you gave to all of our colleagues is that I’m weak and can’t make my own decisions about what’s best for me, and I don’t appreciate that Franky, can you please remember I’ve been doing this for over 20 years? I know how to handle myself.” I say, hating when we fight or disagree, but feeling it’s necessary to establish some rules while at work.  
“I understand – you’re right, I apologise, that most definitely wasn’t my intention. I guess I need to try and separate work Bridget and the one I see at home as Olivia’s mummy and my wife.” Franky says, still a bit sheepishly.  
“Well I guess we can break the rules just this once.” I say, rounding the desk to embrace my wife, giving her a much needed, reassuring kiss.  
“I love you.” I say, breaking the kiss but still holding her close.  
“I love you too baby.” She says, leaning in for a last quick kiss before we separate.  
A few minutes later, there’s is a knock at the door and Will brings Allie into the office. I stand once again from my desk to greet her, I can’t help but feel sorry for her, her eyes are bloodshot and face blotchy from crying.  
“Hi, you must be Allie Novak – it’s nice to meet you.” I say, holding out my hand for her to shake.  
“Yeah that’s me – why am I here?” she asks as she let’s go of my hand, only then noticing Franky at the opposite side of the office.  
“Who’s that? What’s going on?” she asks, beginning to get agitated.  
“It’s okay Allie – I’m Bridget and this is my wife and newly appointed Wentworth resident lawyer Franky, I’m just here to have a little chat, Franky is just leaving.” Franky walks over to greet Allie as well.  
“Hey Allie, I hear you’re Red’s girl – nice to meet you.”  
“Red? Wait a minute – you’re that Franky? Franky Doyle? Has something happened to Bea? Is that why you’re here?” she asks panicking.  
“Oh hey no – she’s still at the hospital but we’ve been told she’s stable okay?” I say to her, trying to calm her down.  
“Right okay – so why are you here?” she directs to Franky.  
“Like Bridget said I’m the new lawyer here, permanently in-house now so the focus can be the women here instead of me working outside cases too. Bridget is the psych, she worked here a few years ago, but she’s back and part of a new team I’m heading up, we’re hoping it will prove beneficial.” Allie’s eyebrows raise at Franky’s answer.  
“No shit – are you serious? Wow that’s quite some turnaround, no doubt I’ll end up meeting with you at some point then.” Allie says.  
“Yeah you will, anyway I’ll leave you both to it, see you around Allie, later Gidge.” Franky gathers her things and leaves the room.  
“So Allie, I understand you’ve had a rough night, do you want to talk about it?” I ask, as I guide her to sit down opposite me on one of the armchairs.  
“There’s not really much to say – Bea is in hospital and I’m stuck here, I just wish I could be with her and see how she’s doing – even just to hold her hand while she sleeps, I’m so worried.”  
“Well that’s completely understandable, but like I said before – she’s stable and in the best possible hands at the hospital right now.” I say, again trying to be reassuring.  
“I know, I just want to hold her so badly and tell her I love her.” She sobs out, I move over and bring the younger woman into a hug.  
“Well, how about you write a letter for Bea and I will visit her tonight after work and give it to her? Or even just tell me what to say to her and I’ll pass the message along.” She just looks at me in disbelief.  
“Why would you do that for me? You don’t even know me?” she asks, shocked by the gesture.  
“Let’s just say, I owe Bea a huge favour from a little while ago.” I say, thinking back to the riot both Franky and Vera were caught up in.  
“Thank you so much! Umm well I guess just tell her that I love her – that’s important, and then that I really miss her and want her to come back to me soon. That’s all really, I guess it’s kind of silly – I’m pretty sure she can at least already guess that.”  
“Don’t be silly Allie, it’s important she knows it, I’ll tell her tonight. Now, if I could make a suggestion to you?” I say, trying to tread carefully.  
“Sure.” She replies, I can already tell her mood has vastly improved but it won’t hurt.  
“Maybe try and keep your emotions to yourself – I know it’s hard but from what the Governor has said the women are less than impressed, with Bea gone right now – we’re just worried about your safety.”  
“No you’re right Bridget, the women are already sending me death glares, Bea probably is the only reason no one’s tried anything yet – I mean, no one succeeded taking power from her, it’s still hers, last night was just a bloodbath, nothing more.”  
“Yeah I was filled in, sounds like it would have been horrific, how are the women doing, what unit are you in?”  
“I moved in to Bea’s unit a while back, they seem okay in there, just worried about her I think – but I’ll pass on that she’s stable when I get back.”  
“Okay good, well anything else you want to discuss with me today?” I ask with a smile.  
“No I’m good actually, I don’t usually like talking to shrinks but you’re different, I can tell – I know you actually care, makes a nice change.” She says, standing up.  
“Well thanks for saying that, I really do care about all the women here, and I know this new team that Franky is going to be heading will do our best for all of you.”  
Later that evening, as I’m finishing up some paperwork, Franky comes back into our office.  
“Hey Gidge, you ready to head home? We need to relieve Booms from babysitting duties.” She says, already with her jacket on and briefcase in hand.  
“Oh – actually Franky, I need to make a quick detour first.” I say, shutting down my laptop and gathering my things.  
“Care to expand?” she asks.  
“Well, and before you say anything – yes I’ve already cleared this with Vera, but I want to stop by the hospital to see Bea, Allie has a message for her and I said I would pass it on.” I say to Franky.  
“Okay – did you tell Vera the last part though?” she asks with a smirk.  
“What do you think?” I say, eyebrows raised at her.  
“Wow – my wife the rule breaker, first a tattoo, now this! Who are you?” Franky says with a laugh.  
“Well, I think we know better than a lot of people how hard a relationship is behind bars, I guess we were just like Bea and Allie, I know it’s not exactly the same, but right now, with one on the inside and the other on the outside, I can’t help but connect the two.” I say, Franky just walks over and engulfs me in a huge hug.  
“Another reason I love you Gidge, always thinking of others. Well we better get going then so you can deliver this important message.” With a quick kiss, we leave the office and head off in the direction of the hospital.  
We arrive half an hour later, noticing immediately Will outside of Bea’s room.  
“Oh wow – your new wifey is taking a chance is she not? Red not managed to sneak past you yet?” of course Franky can’t resist teasing Will about the now infamous Bea Smith escape.  
“Oh shut up Franky.” He says punching her arm.  
“Jesus you’re both like kids! Can we see her Will?”  
“Sure, Vera told me you were coming, she was awake the last time I checked – and yes she’s still there Franky!” he says, narrowing his eyes.  
“Take your word for it big guy.” She laughs as we enter the room – and yes Bea is still in the hospital bed.  
“Still here Red? That’s not like you!” Franky teases as we walk over to the bed.  
“Let me guess, you said the same sort of thing to Mr J on the way in, right?” she smirks.  
“Well of course! It’s only fitting.” Franky laughs.  
“Seriously though Red, how you doing? You look like shit.” My wife asks, looking at Bea.  
“Your wife here is quite the charmer Bridget, I really don’t know how you weren’t able to resist her advances.”  
“I’m beginning to wonder that myself, trust me!” I laugh as Franky just glares at me.  
“Anyway, yeah Franky I’ve been better, but I’m alive – guess that’s something. What do I owe the pleasure of your visit anyway?”  
“Actually, I have a message for you, we can’t stay long, we need to get back to Olivia – that reminds me Franky you should take Boomer back to the bedsit tonight, so she doesn’t miss curfew.”  
“Wait, wait – hold up, Boomer is your babysitter? No fucking way! Seriously?” Bea looks between us with wide eyes.  
“yes, she’s really good actually.” I reply.  
“You won’t say that when the little one starts talking!” Bea laughs, Franky just rolls her eyes.  
“yeah, yeah whatever, Gidge just tell her what Allie said so we can get home.” Franky says, impatient as always.  
“Allie? Is she okay?” Bea says worried.  
“She’s fine, just concerned about you Bea, she wanted me to tell you that she loves you, and is really eager for you to get back so she can see you.” I say.  
“Wow – thanks for coming to see me and pass that on, God I miss her so much – hopefully I get out soon, the bleeding has stopped, had to have emergency surgery but once the stitches heal, I should get to go back.” She says with a smile at the thought.  
“Glad to hear that Red, your girl needs you so get better soon, well we better get going, see you soon though so we can continue to review your case.” Franky says, and with that we say our goodbyes and head home to our daughter. 

Chp54  
“I just got a phone call from Vera, Bea is on her way back to Wentworth now – only three days so not as bad as it could have been, have you given any more thought to her appeal Franky? What angle do you think you’ll go with?” I ask, bringing two glasses of wine over to the sofa, where my wife is sitting, working on her laptop.  
“That’s good about Red, Allie will be happy. Ugh, as for the appeal? I’ll admit, I’m struggling – I mean, there’s no denying she’s guilty of the two murders. However, given her first conviction was thrown out of court – the whole trying to kill her husband thing, I’m thinking we could approach this by making a timeline – if you like, of circumstances leading up to the Jacs Holt murder, I can get records from Vera, hopefully that will give me grounds to even try and get a retrial.” Franky trails off.  
“Whoa – wait Franky, a retrial? I thought we were just trying to get her a bit less time or the possibility of parole! You honestly think a judge will allow a retrial?” I look at her, shocked by this revelation.  
“You said it yourself Gidge, if she had never gone into Wentworth, none of it would have ever happened – her daughter, the subsequent murders – none of it. The husband testified saying she wasn’t guilty of his attempted murder – meaning she was innocent while being held on remand. Whatever happened to duty of care? Huh? How did all of it go so wrong, so fast for her?”  
“I know baby, no one deserves that. Just remember though, we have friends who were guards when all this happened – make sure you don’t bring them down while pursuing this.” I hand her the glass of wine, which she gladly accepts.  
“I know, it’ll be fine. Shit, no it won’t. fuck I’m such an idiot.” I look at her, perplexed.  
“What? Why?”  
“Erica! She was Governor then, with what I have so far about failings to keep prisoners safe, injuries inflicted within the prison – god, not to mention the whole fuck up with Debbie – Gidge, this sort of thing could potentially put her behind bars, I-I don’t know what to do.” Her eyes are sparkling with tears at the uncertainty she now faces.  
“Darling, I never even thought – how sure are you this would be blamed on Erica? Is that certain? Maybe you could speak with her, see if she has any records proving she went to the board with any concerns? She can’t go to prison Franky.” I say, unsure where to even begin trying to help.  
“Right, well I’ll need to speak with her anyway because she’s going to be a witness if this goes to trial – Maura will kill me Gidge, like literally kill me – with the wedding and them trying for a baby – they’re both going to absolutely hate me!”  
“Okay, calm down – just breathe, at least right now you can control how you go about this, so – where do we start?” I ask, taking her hand in my own.  
“Well I need to talk to Erica – let her know what’s happening so she’s prepared I guess, at least give her a heads up. Then talk to Red, inform her of the plan – see where that gets us.”  
“Okay, good – well why don’t we invite Erica and Maura over for dinner and you can discuss everything then?”  
“Yeah, okay – maybe we can use Olivia as a buffer?” Franky adds, slightly laughing.  
“That could work babe, well as long as she isn’t having a tantrum – in that case I don’t think the night will go very well.”  
“True – well I don’t know about you Gidge, but I’m exhausted, think I’m just going to head to bed – you joining me?” Franky asks, standing up and leaving most of the wine I gave her on the coffee table.  
“I’m just going to finish off my glass and read a bit more of this journal – I’ll be no more than half an hour.” I say, as she leans down and kisses my forehead.  
Before she can walk away, I stand and wrap my arms around her neck.  
“I want a proper kiss Franky.” I say, in what I realise quickly after was a rather whiny voice. She looks straight into my eyes as I look back at hers, then without warning lifts me off the carpet, I wrap my legs around her waist for balance.  
“Franky!” I yelp out in surprise.  
“You said you wanted a proper kiss.” She responds, then crashes her lips to my own – completely full of need and desire. We moan into each other mouths, as tongues battle against one another’s. We finally break apart, breathing heavily from the lack of oxygen, Franky still has me cradled around her body.  
“I love you so, so much Gidge – you make me so happy – both you and Olivia do – I know the next little while might be hard and I’ll probably be working a lot, possibly distracted. Just don’t forget how much you mean to me.” She brings our lips back together in a much less heated kiss this time, showing me that she means every word.  
“I love you too – and yes this probably won’t be easy, but we’ll get through it like we do everything else – together.” With one final kiss, she gently lowers me back to the carpet, says goodnight and heads off to our bedroom.  
The next morning, I phone Maura to invite her and Erica to dinner, they happen to be free tonight so we agree on the time of 7pm, hoping Olivia will be settled by then. Franky and I have work, she is going to have a talk with Bea, to inform her of the developments and the next steps we can take.  
“Oh hi Boomer, how are you this morning?” I smile as I walk into the Livingroom and see Boomer feeding Olivia – who’s just woken up.  
“Moring Bridget, I’m good thanks – how are you?” she asks in return.  
“I’m fine, just wish I didn’t need to go to work so I could spend the day with my favourite little girl.” I walk over and stroke Olivia’s cheek as I say this, she’s looking back at me with wide eyes, which seem to get more and more like Franky’s every day.  
“She misses you and Franky when you’re at work – it’s funny, she’ll look around the room as if she’s trying to see where you are – I just need to tell her that she’s stuck with me!” Boomer passes Olivia over so I can have a quick cuddle while we wait for Franky to finish getting ready. A few minutes later, two arms wrap around me from behind, holding both myself and Olivia.  
“Good morning.” Franky says, placing a kiss on the side of my head, Olivia notices her right away and flails her arms while making grunting noises, a clear signal she wants to be held by my wife.  
“I think your daughter wants snuggles with her mummy before work.” I say, turning and passing Olivia to her.  
“Well hello little girl.” Franky says, placing kisses all over Olivia’s face and head, as she squeals in delight. I walk to the kitchen to make coffee, letting them have a little alone time together.  
“You didn’t need to make that Boomer; I was just coming to do it – but thanks.” I say, noticing the two travel mugs had already been filled for Franky and I.  
“Thought I’d give you both a little extra time with Olivia – Franky seems like she needs it this morning.” I forget sometimes that Boomer and my wife lived with one another in such close quarters for so long, she picks up on her emotions just like I do.  
“Hmm, yes – just a tough case coming up, I think her hardest yet. She’ll be fine though.”  
“I know, she has you and Olivia to get her through anything.” I smile at Boomer’s words.  
“She has you too, I know she’s so glad you’re back being a part of her life – and Olivia and I are grateful to have you here too.”  
“Thanks Bridget, that really means a lot to me.”  
“Gidge, we need to leave or I’ll be late for my meeting!” Franky calls from the Livingroom.  
“Okay babe, just coming,”  
“Oh, Boomer, we have friends coming over for dinner tonight, would you be able to stay a little later and get Olivia ready for bed? We normally like to do that as you know – but this dinner is important and Franky will need to relax – a screaming baby getting bathed won’t be ideal.”  
“No problem at all, I can stay until about 9pm if that would be okay?”  
“Perfect, you might not need to stay that late though, just until she’s settled but thank you.” I say, picking up the travel mugs and heading to my wife, Boomer close behind to take Olivia from Franky’s reluctant arms. We say our goodbyes, giving Olivia a few kisses before heading out the door.  
Work was very slow, I just had a few routine sessions scheduled, and thankfully nothing else came up – Franky was more or less the same, her meeting with Bea was this afternoon, but she hasn’t spoken much about it yet – so I’m unsure how it went.  
“What will I make for dinner then Gidge? Pasta dish or something like that? Will probably be the quickest option.” My wife’s words take me out of my daydream, and I realise I’ve just been staring at the fridge for the last five minutes.  
“Hmm, yeah sounds good.” I reply, half-heartedly.  
“Baby? What’s wrong?” Franky asks, walking so she’s in front of me, placing her hands on my hips to stop me turning away.  
“I – well I’m just thinking, what if this re-trial you’re aiming for leaves us with no friends because they all hate us?” I blurt out, I’ve been trying to keep strong and be supportive of Franky but I’m still scared it will all go wrong and the worst case scenario – Franky inadvertently sends the people we care about to prison. 

“That won’t happen.” Franky says, very matter of fact as she pulls me into her arms.  
“How do you know? Anything is possible – we can’t possibly predict the outcome.” I say, face pressed to Franky’s neck. She pulls back from the tight embrace and takes my face in her hands while looking me directly in the eye.  
“Well, I know Gidge because there isn’t going to be a re-trial, possibly an appeal on length of sentence – that’s all. Turns out, Allie is in for ten years, so Red wants to be with her, also she says that for the most part the Screws have been good to her – especially Will – and she doesn’t want to ruin anymore lives, that’s it, so no more worrying okay? I don’t even need Erica or Vera or anyone else now – the appeal for a reduction in sentence will just be Red, a judge, and myself behind closed doors.”  
“Really? You’re sure – so our friends won’t hate us in the near future then?” Franky just chuckles as she brings our lips together.  
“No babe, don’t worry okay – so let’s just have a nice dinner with Maura and Erica and forget about this. You think they’ve set a date yet?”  
“That makes me so relieved! Ooh maybe, they said just very small though so who knows with them.”  
“Hmm, yeah they say that – but you know what they’re like! They’d invite everyone they know if they could.”  
“They would yes – but that would be very expensive – and if they plan on having a baby, well I think we know first-hand how expensive they are!” I say as we finally break apart.  
“Expensive – yes, but worth every penny? A million times yes.” Franky says in reply with a smile, then I notice her face turn more serious.  
“What you thinking?” I ask as she starts to busy herself chopping some vegetables.  
“Just that I wish I’d met you ten years earlier, before prison and all that shit – you know, under normal circumstances – don’t you – I mean sometimes wish that?”  
“Well, I’m a great believer that everything happens for a reason, who knows if we would have even been the same people without those ten years’ worth of experiences.” I say, also busy now taking things out of the fridge to prepare dinner.  
“I want another one.” Franky says so quickly I almost miss it, I drop the jar I just picked out of the fridge and it smashes onto the floor, small shards hitting my legs as it breaks into thousands of tiny pieces.  
“Shit! Ouch!” I say, looking down to see some glass now embedded in my shin.  
“Gidge, baby – are you okay? Stay still so you don’t stand on anymore, two seconds.” Franky stops what she’s doing and rushes to me, immediately noticing some blood. She scoops me up off the floor since I’m barefoot and carries me to the sofa, before running to get the first aid kit to clean me up.  
“I’ll need to get the glass out; this will probably sting babe.” She says, tending to each cut carefully. My head is spinning, all I keep replaying in my head are Franky’s words ‘I want another one’ – I mean, we haven’t talked about the possibility, I took that as a given we were content with Olivia – but now?  
“Gidge you good? That’s me done, looked worse than it was.” I just stare at my wife as she speaks, unsure what to say.  
“Another one?” Is the first thing to leave my mouth before I can think any further.  
“Huh?” Franky narrows her eyes, trying to understand.  
“You said, and I quote, ‘I want another one’ Franky, what did you mean?” My voice is small as I look at her.  
“Umm – oh. Right well I was just thinking it might be kinda nice, a little brother or sister for Olivia, but that’s just my thought, I mean it’s unlikely it would happen – I know, but still doesn’t stop me imagining having another. What do you think?” my eyes fill with tears at the idea of another little baby in our family – how could I possibly say no?  
“Yes! I mean, I’d thought about it but dismissed it because I didn’t think you’d want to try again – I’m older this time Franky, the chances are small.”  
“Well – you see that’s the other thing…I was kinda hoping that this time around, I could try? Seeing you last time, everything you went through – well apart from the sickness – was so amazing, I really want to try – I know the odds aren’t in our favour but I want this for us.”  
“Are you serious? Oh my God, yes Franky! Of course, that would be amazing baby.” I pull her to me and kiss her, when we break apart, slightly breathless – she stares at me as though she’s wanting to say more.  
“What babe?” I say, lightly touching her cheek.  
“Well I was hoping; we could try with one of your eggs? I just really want a little Gidget – it would be perfect.” I’m speechless, I really can’t believe any of this conversation.  
“Seriously? You want to carry my biological child?”  
“Yes, you carried Olivia from my egg, so it only seems right, plus anything from you will be absolutely beautiful.  
“Oh Franky, so are we actually going to do this? Maybe we should think though – I mean how many tries? We can’t do procedure after procedure – we were so lucky with Olivia.”  
“I know, well how about we make an appointment with Dr Cooper and see what she says? We don’t have anything to lose by asking questions.” I just smile at how my wife is always so level-headed.  
“Good idea – I just hope everything will be okay and we can at least try – I mean, if it did work, Olivia would probably be two, or at least nearing that age, so it would be a nice gap I think.” Franky kisses me again.  
“Is it bad I really want another girl? I mean, I would be delighted with a boy – but a girl that looked just like you – Gidge, I would be so, so happy if that were to happen.”  
“Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves – at this point I don’t really care what we get, so long as the baby is healthy – that’s all that matters.” 

Chp55

“Happy birthday baby girl! I can’t believe you’re one today! This has been the quickest year ever! Let’s get you ready for your party – everyone’s going to be there. Oh, and there’s going to be cake – don’t think I don’t remember how much you liked my birthday cake last month sweetie.” I say, rambling on to the birthday girl as she makes little noises and occasionally an actual word in reply. She said ‘mummy’ – or at least a variation of it last month to Bridget and I’ve never seen my wife more ecstatic – it put the biggest smile on her face. A lot has happened the past few months, Erica and Maura got married, Bea got a reduction in her sentence – meaning she now has around the same amount of time left inside as Allie – which she’s delighted about, and well then of course there is –  
“Hi my loves.” I’m brought out of my thoughts by my beautiful wife walking into the nursery – she’s wearing a gorgeous red dress that hugs her curves in just the right way.  
“Hi babe – you look lovely. I’m just putting that dress you bought Olivia on her – everyone will be here soon – I just hope she keeps it clean for at least some photos.” I say, tickling Olivia as she laughs.  
“Oh god – I hope so, no cake until after photos please, we know how she is.” Bridget laughs as she moves further into the room, Olivia noticing her for the first time as she pushes herself up to a crawling position and heads off in the direction of her mother.  
“Happy birthday beautiful girl – are you excited for your party?” Bridget asks, bending down to scoop Olivia into her arms.  
“No” Ah, there it is – Olivia’s favourite word at the moment – absolutely everything is a no, doesn’t matter what we ask her. Bridget looks at me, eyebrows raised and I step forward so I can look at Olivia.  
“Are you not, not looking forward to your party baby?”  
“No!” she answers, louder this time.  
“Franky!” Bridget scolds.  
“What?” I reply.  
“You’re going to confuse her by using double negatives! She’s one year old.” She says, shaking her head.  
“Well we can’t have her saying no to everything, I just thought I’d improvise.” Bridget lets out a laugh.  
“You’re silly, I love you though Franky.”  
“I love you too Gidge – now let’s get our little Princess for the day all sorted and ready for her guests arriving.  
We head into the Livingroom, which we decorated last night – balloons, banners, confetti – the place is unbelievably pink – all Bridget’s doing, but I’m not complaining, it’s going to be the most perfect day.  
I busy myself sorting last minute things, and get the cake brought in from the garage, while Bridget keeps Olivia occupied. I get the stepladders out of the hall closet, having noticed the banner Bridget put up last night over the mirror in the Livingroom is coming undone.  
“Franky! What do you think you’re doing? Let me do that!” Bridget says, entering the room as I go to step on the first rung.  
“I’ve got it babe – the banners just come loose, I’ll be two seconds.”  
“So help me Franky – if you take a step on that ladder, I will not be filling those urges you’ve been having lately for at least a month!” The anger in my wife’s voice takes me aback slightly, nonetheless I do as I’m told and hand Bridget the end of the banner.  
Seconds later, the banner is once again perfect – Bridget, however is standing next to me looking at me intently.  
“What?” I say, confused.  
“You keep doing this Franky – it doesn’t seem to matter how many times I say something.” She shakes her head as the initial anger dissipates and I see tears fill her eyes.  
“Hey – come on babe, it’s me that’s supposed to be the emotional one. I’m sorry okay, really I am – I promise I’ll be more careful and everything from now on.” I say, seeming to appease her as a smile forms on her lips.  
“Good, because it’s not like I want to withhold sex from you or anything.”  
“I’m pleased to hear that – trust me – I’m getting majorly horny – especially this past week.” I say, as she just rolls her eyes.  
“Well, that’s what this does to you – remember what I was like?” she places her hand on my growing belly – which seems to have popped the last few days.  
“Baby, you were insatiable! It really was the best of times.” I smile, remembering fondly back to that time, as I put my hand on top of hers.  
“I still can’t believe we’ll have another one in less than six months.” Bridget says.  
“Me neither, it’s crazy – what do you think it is this time – boy or another girl?” I ask my wife.  
“As long as it’s a healthy baby I don’t mind – I guess a boy would be quite nice – then we’d have one of each.”  
“Hmm I suppose, but part of me does want a little girl who looks exactly like you Gidge – but you’re right, healthy is the main thing.”  
“Do you want to find out this time? Or wait for the surprise again?” she asks.  
“I think wait – I mean, we’re so lucky with whatever we get anyway – and that adds to the excitement.”  
“I agree.” We share a kiss, which is cut short by the doorbell ringing.  
“Let the chaos begin.” I say jokingly as we head to answer the door.  
Soon enough, the house is filled with all our family and friends, Olivia couldn’t be happier with all the attention and presents she’s getting. Will and Vera bought her a little toy car that her and Will have been playing with all afternoon – I’m not sure who the present was actually intended for at this point.  
We announced our news to everyone a few weeks ago, so we wouldn’t take away from Olivia’s day by everyone congratulating us. Trying to explain to Olivia what’s going on has been hard – she can obviously see the changes, my once flat stomach now has a definite bump – but she doesn’t understand much more than ‘mummy’s getting a fat tummy’, hopefully over the next few months she will be excited about the thought of a little brother or sister – but we’ll need to wait and see.  
“Right everyone, time for the cake! Who has the birthday girl?” Bridget asks, beginning to light the massive number one candle on top of the fairy princess cake she ordered special for the occasion.  
“I’ve got her Bridget; I’ll bring her over.” Erica calls out from the kitchen. Everyone gathers at the table where the cake is, Olivia gets placed in her highchair so she can blow out her candle, all cameras are on her to catch the moment.  
“Okay Olivia, you need to blow out the candle, then we can all have some cake, okay sweetie? Mummy will help you.” Bridget says, fussing around an agitated Olivia, clearly not understanding why she has now been put in her highchair, when five minutes ago she was running around playing with her new toys.  
“No!” Olivia huffs, hitting her hands off the tray in front of her.  
“Olivia – just a minute honey, let’s just skip the full song Gidge, or we’re going to have a super cranky little girl on our hands.” I say.  
“Okay – well that after 3, everyone just shout ‘Happy Birthday!’ – okay 1,2,3.”  
“Happy Birthday!” the whole room shouts out and cheers, Bridget tries her best to show Olivia how to blow out the candle, but her attempt seems to just involve spitting in the direction of the cake – much to Bridget’s horror – so Bridget and I quickly blow it out together instead.  
“You realise – this time last year you were just about at the pushing stage?” I say to my wife as she begins to cut the cake and I pick up a wriggling Olivia from her chair.  
“Oh – trust me I won’t be forgetting that in a hurry – but look at what we got – an entire year though, and so much has happened.” Bridget says, smiling fondly.  
“Well, if you’d told me that on her first birthday I’d be pregnant with her sibling – I would have told you that you were crazy. Dr Cooper sure can work miracles, huh? I still can’t believe it sometimes – but now I just need to look down and it’s clear to see it’s very real.” I rub a hand across my rounded stomach and smile.  
“Well 17 weeks, you’re doing not too badly, I think I was slightly bigger – but you’ve always been much more athletic than me.” Bridget notes.  
“Yeah I suppose, I wonder when we’ll movement for the first time, Olivia didn’t until like 20 weeks – I hope this one’s sooner.”  
“Ha! You say that now, wait until you’re getting punched and kicked in the ribs and lungs – you’ll want to take that back.”  
“It’s incredible though – remember how excited we were? I want that feeling all over again.”  
“Me too baby – I can’t wait, you’ll feel it before me this time, like the little flutter I had and stuff.”  
“Yup, so exciting. Right, are you done cutting the cake? The baby really wants that piece there with the extra frosting.” I say, as sincerely as possible.  
“Oh, so the baby wants it? Uh huh, sure darling – I was going to give you that bit anyway – so the baby comes out all chunky and cute.”  
“Not too big though Gidge, it still has to fit through a rather small space.”  
“Yeah, yeah – whatever you say. Now, go hand out cake please, and try and watch Olivia so she doesn’t smear it everywhere – I don’t want a repeat of your birthday when she was left alone for two minutes.”  
“Sure thing babe – and don’t worry, I think we learned our lesson from when she used the chocolate frosting as paint – I’ll not take my eyes off her.”

Chp56

Stepping through the front door to our home, I can’t believe how much things have changed in just the past 24 hours. This time yesterday, I was sitting on the sofa, lounging around with my very pregnant wife, and today, I’m walking back into the same room with a car seat in tow, and a very tiny little baby, who seems much too small to fill it properly.  
I walk over to the coffee table, where I carefully place the newest member of the family, it seems surreal right now just how quickly everything happened. Franky went into labour yesterday afternoon, we had only just got back from our 36 week check up with Dr Cooper when it happened – her water broke – and neither of us were expecting it. At the appointment, we had been told that it would probably still be a few weeks, but I suppose these things are never completely accurate. I now know exactly how helpless Franky felt last time when I was in labour with Olivia, I didn’t know what to do to make her feel any better, and the only thing I could do was make sure she was comfortable and drive us to the hospital. It was a bit of luck that Olivia was being looked after by my parents at the time, at least that was one less thing to worry about.  
I’m still in shock by how fast it all progressed, by the time we reached the maternity ward, the nurse examining Franky informed us that she was ready to start pushing. I’ve never been more excited and yet equally as terrified in all my life, it was different witnessing it as opposed to experiencing it.  
Franky did so well, I am so proud of how she coped with it all – not that I had my doubts – but I was of course apprehensive, and then there was the fear in the back of my mind that something could still go wrong – surely no one ultimately gets their happy ending? However, I’m glad to say my fears were misguided.  
I hear a shuffling coming from the front door, and slowly my wife appears in front of me – looking completely exhausted.  
“How are you feeling baby?” I ask as she gradually walks further into the room.  
“Sore and exhausted, but I wouldn’t change a thing.” I smile at her as she approaches, I fluff the cushions on the sofa and grab a blanket that is nearby to help get her comfortable.  
“Here, come and sit down for a bit. Or would you rather get into bed and take a nap?”  
“The sofa is fine, I just want to spend time with the two of you. That reminds me, when are you parents bringing Olivia home?” Franky asks, as she begins to situate herself on the couch with my assistance.  
“Well, I haven’t spoken to them to arrange a time yet, I wasn’t sure when would be best – it’s going to be a special moment when she comes home and I didn’t want you to be too tired to remember it.” I say, sitting down beside her and stroking her hair from her face.  
“Hmm yeah that’s a good point babe, but I miss her – I know it’s only been a day but I can’t wait to see her.”  
“I know what you mean Franky, but I think introducing her new sibling at home was the better idea, plus hospitals aren’t the greatest place to take a toddler when not necessary.”  
“You’re right, but I still can’t wait until she gets here.”  
Just then, the baby in the car seat starts to fuss, and I move to undo the straps.  
“I think she might be hungry Franky, it’s been a few hours now since her last feed.” I say, picking her up and cradling her in my arms.  
“God, can you believe how tiny she is? I know she was a bit early but I didn’t think she would be so small.” My wife says as I sit back down next to her, our new baby girl in my arms.  
“I know, Olivia was 7lbs 7, so this one here is exactly a pound lighter, but she’s healthy so that’s the main thing – just wait and see, in a few weeks she’ll be filled out a lot more.”  
“True, but every time I pick her up I feel like I’m going to break her, which I know is completely irrational but I can’t help it. I love her so much already though, I can’t get over just how perfect she is, and how much she looks like you Gidge, I’m so happy.”  
“She is perfect, thank you for giving our family this precious gift Franky, you did so amazing and I love you so, so much.”  
“Aww Gidge, you know my hormones are all crazy right now, you’re gonna make me cry…again, which will be like the twelfth time in the last day.” Franky says, wiping her eyes at the tears threatening to fall.  
“You know I like when you show your emotions to me babe, that’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you, anyway for now I think you should try feeding her – I know it’s uncomfortable and she might not take to it right away but you did not too badly in the hospital.” I say, as Franky starts to adjust herself so she can feed the baby.  
“I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it, and at least you can still breastfeed, so it takes the pressure off of me a bit, although I’m, not sure how Olivia will feel about sharing your boobs.” Franky says, chuckling.  
“Well at least it’s an option we can explore, and anyway, Olivia is going to need to get used to sharing sooner or later.” I pass our new daughter over to Franky, and much to our surprise, she latches on almost immediately.  
“Wow, she knew exactly where to go that time, and she’s staying there, that’s at least an improvement from yesterday.” Franky says, while looking down in what can only be described as complete awe at our daughter.  
“You know Franky, she still needs a name.” I say, breaking the silence that has formed.  
“Well, she threw us completely – I was so convinced we were having a boy! All those names we discussed are out the window now. You have any great ideas, Spunky?” I just laugh at my wife, it is true – she was adamant the baby was a boy, so much so she wouldn’t let me make a list of girl names as there was – and I quote “no point wasting time.”  
“You know me, I like lots of the names we thought of last time for Olivia that we never got the chance to use. I just can’t decide what she looks like, I still really like Eva but I’m not sure. What about you?”  
“Well Eva was high on our list last time, so that’s a contender. Ugh I don’t know though – is it bad I feel like I don’t want to recycle our last choices? I want her naming to be special – I almost feel although it’s cheating if we re-use our old names, do you know what I mean?” I nod at my wife, while stroking through the thin blonde hair on our daughter’s head.  
“Yes, I understand what you’re getting at, but we had a lot of options last time – do you think we’ll be able to come up with a name we both love this time around?”  
“How about Charlotte? I’ve always like that name.” Franky says all of a sudden.  
“That’s a pretty name, yes. Charlotte Westfall-Doyle?” I ask.  
“Hmm, that sounds nice – but I don’t want to just pick the very first name.”  
“I’ve always quite liked Amelia, I know we never discussed that as an option last time.” I say, Franky looks up and has a genuine smile on her face.  
“I think that’s the one! Seriously Gidge, I think this could be our little Mia.” I smile back but can’t help but laugh.  
“A nickname already Franky?”  
“But it’s cute! Mia and Olivia.” She says, beaming.  
“You may have just sold me on that being the name, they sound good together.”  
“Yup, so any middle name? or are we just sticking to a first name this time around?”  
“Amelia Westfall-Doyle sounds good to me, I don’t see any reason to add another name, unless there’s one you can think of?”  
“No, I would say to name her after someone but I think we have too many strong women as part of our family, I don’t think I’d just be able to pick one! And Amelia Susan Vera Bea Erica Maura Westfall-Doyle is not happening!” we both share a laugh and then focus our attention back on our daughter.  
“Hi Amelia” I say, placing a kiss on her little forehead now Franky is done feeding her.  
“I think I’ll take a nap, shower and then I want Olivia home, I really can’t wait to see her face Gidge, she’s been so excited for this day to come, it’s mean to make her wait any longer.”  
“Okay, well why don’t you get into bed, I’ll snuggle and stare at our beautiful little girl for a while, then I’ll phone my parents and get Olivia home.”  
“Sounds great, I’ll see you in a few hours then. I’ll try and make myself a bit more presentable as well.” Franky places a kiss on Amelia, then one on my lips and moves towards the bedroom.  
“No need darling, you’re already perfect.” I say to her retreating form. 

PAGE BREAK 

Three hours later, I am feeling slightly better – after a nap and shower I certainly look better than I did previously. Bridget came to help me get showered and changed, and informed me Olivia is due home at 4pm, only five more minutes to wait, I can’t wait to see what she thinks about her little sister.  
“Franky, that’s the car pulling up now.” Bridget calls from the Livingroom, where she is no doubt cuddling with our daughter again, she’s reluctant to leave her alone for two seconds, I even had to ask for a turn of a cuddle in the hospital, she loves her so much already.  
I walk into the Livingroom, just in time to hear the front door open and Bridget’s parents talking to Olivia.  
“Now Olivia, remember what we said, be careful around the new baby – no jumping okay? Just be gentle, oh and be careful with your mummy too.” Bridget’s dad can be heard saying as they round the corner, Olivia holding both of their hands – pulling at them, clearly keen to get a look at the baby. She spots me first, as I’m standing behind the sofa, looking down at Bridget and Amelia.  
“Mummy!” Olivia screams and races forwards, breaking away from her grandparents, who give an apologetic look.  
“Hi baby.” I say, as her little arms wrap around my legs.  
“Where my baby?” she enquires, in a rather serious tone for her age.  
“Your mummy is holding her; would you like to see?” I ask, she nods her head enthusiastically.  
Bridget stands from the sofa, Amelia securely in her arms.  
“Olivia, why don’t you get on the sofa and then you can see the new baby, okay?” another nod, and soon Olivia is ready for the introduction, with Bridget and I sat at either side of her.  
“This is the new baby Olivia, you’ve got a little sister.” I say, as Bridget places Amelia over Olivia’s lap, being careful to still support her head.  
“She’s small.” Olivia observes.  
“She is, that’s why we need to be careful with her, okay?” Olivia just nods and brings up a tentative hand to the baby’s cheek, very gently drawing her finger across it.  
“She’s soft.” Is the next observation by the toddler. Bridget and I chuckle and our daughter’s reaction, maybe this will be easier than we thought.  
“Name?” Olivia asks, staring up between the two of us.  
“Well your mummy and me really like Amelia, and that’s going to be her name, what do you think?” I can see by the look on her face that she is really thinking hard if she likes it or not.  
“Mia, I like it!” Bridget and I can’t help but laugh at this, clearly Amelia is a bit too difficult for an 18-month-old to say.  
“See Gidge, I’m not the only one coming up with nicknames now!”  
I take a moment to look around, at the life I’ve built for myself in the last five years. If you were to have told me during my darkest moments, that I would be sitting here now – with my three beautiful girls I would have said there was no chance, there was no hope that I would even survive, never mind have a family of my own, but it’s funny how life can change: a chance encounter with a psychologist in the corridor at Wentworth, countless sessions with her where I said I was a lost cause, the woman who never gave up on me, the hot girl and the hot car picking me up, the fights and arguments, never looking back, the proposal, the marriage, Olivia and now Amelia. I’ve fought off all of my past demons, and through it all, slowly but surely my life has got to the point it’s at now – where I can say I am truly happy, and I’m no longer looking to the future, because my future is right now, in this very room – and I’m living every second of it.

THE END


End file.
